Chrono Trigger: The Full Story
by Bender1616
Summary: This story follows the adventures of a group of heroes through time, in an effort to stop an evil entity from destroying their world. Based on the rpg from Square.
1. The Millennial Fair

Chrono Trigger

CHAPTER 1

THE MILLENNIAL FAIR

The flock of seagulls flew through the sky, as they peered down at the shoreline below them. The waves crashed against the cliffs, sending a gentle spray of seawater into the air. This was the shoreline of northern Zenan, home of the kingdom of Guardia. The northern continent was still full of lush forests, and as hard as it was to believe it used to have even more forested land. Guardia Castle lay in the northwest of northern Zenan, surrounded by Guardia Forest. Tall mountains rose up out of all of northern Zenan, towering above the castle and the town of Truce, which was in the southeast of northern Zenan. Zenan Bridge, the hundreds of years old bridge, connected northern Zenan to the comparatively featureless southern Zenan.

Long ago, much of southern Zenan had become desert. Most humans placed the blame on the demon like mystics, but most mystics placed the blame on the careless humans. It was clear that tensions still remained from the war between mystics and humans that had taken place 400 years ago.

But little of this was on the mind of the humans now, for this day was the beginning of the Millennial Fair. The year was 1000 AD, and the humans were celebrating another thousand years of life. Truce was the center of activity now, as people from all over the world came there to celebrate. Being the most prosperous human territory, it was the one to hold this special event. The town usually enjoyed a peaceful way of life, as travel between villages was rare since they were so far apart and so little civilization lay between them. Between Truce and Porre, there was the vast Zenan Desert, and the wildlands of Guardia that lay by the castle and Truce. And they were the second closest towns in the world too, beaten only by Arni and Termina, in the very small El Nido Archipelago.

Now in the village of Truce, people were milling through the streets, and merchants from other territories peddled their wares, much to the annoyance of the locals. The town would see much activity for the whole time the fair was going on. The inn was full of laughter and song, and the docks were bustling with incoming ships, bringing travelers from as far as distant Choras. Guardian soldiers struggled to keep things in order, as the festivities attracted many troublemakers as well. All in all the town was extremely busy, and not many of the local villagers liked it much. All troubles were forgotten at the fair itself though, which was being held to the north of Truce, in a very large clearing at the foot of the mountain called Leene Square, that used to lead into Truce Canyon, which was now no longer there.

While many villagers woke up early to beat the foreign merchants from taking the best spots, one particular boy was largely unconcerned about the whole mess. And he currently had his face buried in his pillow, as his muffled snores came out surprisingly loud. So loud that they almost drowned out the distant bang of firecrackers at the fair, and then the ringing of Leene's Bell, which was at the center of the fair. However, not even this woke up the slumbering boy, who was very tired from practicing his sword fighting skills the night before. All he had right now to practice with was a wooden sword, but he hoped to one day acquire a real one and become a Guardian soldier.

His mother came up the stairs, and smiled warmly as she looked at her teenage son lying peacefully in bed. She walked over to his bed and bent down slightly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Crono..." she said. "Crono! Good morning, Crono."

She walked over to the curtains of his room and opened them, letting the sunlight stream into the room. Crono grumbled and turned over in bed to face the wall, so that the light wouldn't disturb him so much.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," his mom said. "The fair starts today, remember? Get an early start!"

She walked down the stairs as he turned back over in bed and got up, stretching his arms. He ran his hand through his red hair, which stuck out in all directions. Just the way he liked it. He reluctantly got out of bed, which was actually much easier to do on a day that he knew would be full of nothing but fun at the fair, instead of "fun" at school.

He pulled on his usual clothes; a green shirt, white loose fitting pants, a blue gi, and a white bandanna around his forehead. He also pulled on his blue shoes and tied a sack around his belt. He also picked up his sheathed wooden sword, and headed downstairs. He was greeted by the smell of breakfast, as well as his mom and cat.

"Finally," his mom said, smiling. "Breakfast is ready, so eat up. And don't forget that Lucca asked you to stop by her presentation at the fair. She's unveiling her newest invention there."

"I remember," Crono said. "And I'll remember to bring a helmet," he said, laughing.

"Now Crono," his mom said, serving him some orange juice as he sat down to eat. "You should be more supportive of your friend. Besides, she DID make that robot, right? What was its name again...?"

"Oh yeah!" Crono said, his mouth still full. He gulped it down quickly, getting a stern look from his mom. "His name's Gato. The battle-training robot she made for me, to help with my sword fighting. I think she said he'd be at the fair too. I ought to try him out!"

"Crono!" His mom said, as he started eating faster, being eager to get to the fair more than ever now. "Give yourself time to breathe!"

He smiled as he swallowed the last of his breakfast, and kissed his mom on the cheek before heading quickly for the door.

"See ya mom!" Crono said, waving as he went out the door.

"Bye, sweetie!" His mom said, waving back and smiling. "Oh, wait!" She said, running to catch him before he left completely.

"What's up?" Crono asked.

"Don't forget your allowance, dear," she said, handing him some gold coins. "Have fun at the fair!"

"Thanks!" Crono said, pocketing the money. "Bye, mom!"

His mom smiled as she watched him run down the path, and sighed as she remembered his father. "So much like him when he was young," she said. She then went back into the house to clean up Crono's room.

Crono walked through the streets of Truce, passing all the merchants with booths there, both foreign and local. He had grown accustomed to them by now, and was good at ignoring all their calls out to the passing crowds. He looked around, seeing many foreigners getting talked into buying things they surely had no intention of buying prior to coming here. Merchants were good at getting people to do that.

Crono picked out the stand he was looking for, and walked over to it. Barrels, full of various drinks, were displayed at the stand, and Crono eagerly looked for one in particular, hoping it was still in stock today. He spotted it, and his spirits lifted. He slammed some money down on the stand, which surprised and frightened the merchant running it.

"What's the matter with you?" The merchant yelled.

"One canteen of lemonade please!" Crono said, a big grin on his face.

The merchant blinked, and then laughed. "Oh, it's you Crono! Didn't recognize you! Alright, hold on, let me get you your drink."

He turned around and twisted a spigot on one of the barrels, letting lemonade flow down into a canteen he was holding beneath it. Crono watched, practically feeling his lips become dryer as he anticipated drinking the wonderful beverage. Lemonade was practically the national beverage of Guardia. Guardian lemonade was famous throughout the world, and the majority of the adult population favored an alcoholic version of the lemonade to beer or wine. It was rivaled only by Choras' famed soda, which held its own dominance over beer and wine.

The merchant handed Crono the canteen, and Crono immediately started gulping the lemonade down.

"Gah!" The merchant said. "You have to make that last the entire day, Crono! Don't go downing it all right now!"

"Oh, right," Crono said, corking the canteen. "Well, I'll be heading to the fair now. Will you be there at all?"

"Of course!" The merchant said. "This fair only happens once every thousand years!"

"Hope to see you there, then!" Crono said, waving as he left.

As Crono got closer to the fair, the crowd thickened, making it harder for him to find his way through it. He looked up at the sky, and knew he was getting closer, as he saw a number of balloons floating up into the sky. They were to be released the entire duration of the fair, all of them containing wishes for the new millenium, written down by various people on pieces of paper and stuck into the balloons. It was said that if someone's wish drifted back to them on the wind, it would come true.

"How about that latest earthquake?" He heard a man say, as he made his way through the crowds.

"Oh, yeah!" The man's friend said. "Scary stuff. We've been getting more and more as the years go by."

"It makes you wonder," the man said. "I wonder if...the big one is coming."

Crono thought about the earthquake that had hit the other day. It was true that earthquakes had been occurring more and more frequently as the years passed, but they were really still too far apart to actually worry about. If "the big one" were coming, it probably wouldn't happen for a thousand years, or even more. No one with any sense got themselves concerned about it now.

But these thoughts left his mind as he found himself at the entrance to the fair. He reached for his pouch but stopped as he realized that admission to the fair was free for all, fully paid for by King Guardia. King Guardia, known as "Guardia the Grim" ever since Queen Aliza had died. He'd been noticeably less active and public these days, and the few commoners who got into the castle reported him as being noticeably more grim now. However, he still maintained much of his former charity that had existed when the Queen had still been alive, and so he had announced that he would be paying for the whole fair.

As he entered the gates to the fair, an old man smiled and greeted him.

"Welcome to the Millennial Fair!" The old man said. "Have fun!"

"Do you know where I can find Lucca Ashtear's presentation?" Crono asked the old man.

"Ah yes," the old man said. "You can find Miss Lucca's presentation at the far end of the square, at the edge of the woods. We had to have her at a certain distance from the rest of the fair due to the uh...volatile nature her inventions tend to have sometimes."

Crono thanked the old man, and went further into the fair, heading past various stands and tents for Lucca's invention. The square was very large, holding a gigantic amount of people. This had to be the most noise that Crono had ever heard in his life. On a large stage a band was playing festive music, which helped bring the mood of the fair to an all-time high. Crono had to jump back quickly, as he suddenly found himself on a racetrack and in the path of the strangest assortment of racers he had ever seen. How could someone in a full suit of armor run that fast?

Still peering back at the race as he walked up the steps to the center area of Leene Square, Crono failed to notice the girl running towards him, who also had her attention directed elsewhere. Before they knew it, they both had ran right into each other, and fell to the ground.

"Ugh..." the girl said, rubbing her head as she got up. Leene's Bell rang as the girl walked over to Crono and knelt by him. "Are you ok?" She asked. "I'm so sorry!" As she apologized, her hand wandered to her neck, and she felt around frantically as a startled expression came upon her face.

Crono sat up, rubbing his head in turn. "Nah, it's ok," he said. "...hey, what's wrong?"

Suddenly he paused as he now got a better look at her. She was really pretty, wearing a white outfit with what looked like a gold belt. Her blonde hair was in a ponytail, and she wore sandals on her feet. He also noticed a quiver of arrows and a crossbow slung over her shoulder.

"My pendant...," she replied. "It's gone! It's a really valuable family heirloom, too." She had a sad and worried look on her face. "Hey, uh...do you think you could help me look for it?" She asked.

"Uhh, well I'm supposed to be meeting someone, but...sure, why not?" Crono said, smiling and getting up.

"Thanks!" The girl said. "Ok, the pendant is a round blue jewel on a string necklace."

"Alright," Crono said, and they both started looking around.

It was hard to look for it. There were a lot of people milling around the square, and it was very likely that someone could've seen it and taken it for themselves. Crono peered carefully at the ground, it being obscured by so many moving feet. Suddenly something caught his eye, and he looked closer at where he thought he had seen it. Sure enough, being kicked around by people not noticing it, was a blue jewel on a string necklace. It had to be the girl's pendant.

Crono rushed over through the crowd and picked it up, looking at it as he held it in his hand. It really was a beautiful pendant. It was very lucky that it hadn't been taken with so many people walking around. This fair was a paradise for pickpockets and thieves. Crono looked through the crowd for the girl, and finally spotted her with an increasingly worried look on her face.

"Hey!" Crono said to her. "I've found your pendant, I think."

He held out his hand, the pendant in it, and her whole face brightened. She immediately hugged him. He was surprised how tight the hug was, almost too much for him to bear.

"Thank you so much!" She said, grabbing the pendant and holding it tightly in her hand. She released her tight grip on it and inspected it. "Hmm," she said. "Darn it, I was afraid of that. The string broke, I'll have to hold it." Her attention was again directed at him. "So what's your name?"

"I'm Crono," he said. "What's yours?"

"My name?" She asked, surprised. "Oh, uh...it's Marle. Thanks again for helping me, Crono."

"No problem," Crono said, smiling. "Hey, I don't think I've seen you in Truce before. Are you from here?"

"No, I'm from somewhere else," she said.

"Yeah, I thought so," Crono said. "I'd remember a face like that." He caught himself and blushed. "Uh, sorry," he said, chuckling a bit.

Marle giggled. "It's ok," she said. "I'm actually not used to that. It's nice to hear. Say, listen...think you could show me around the fair?"

Crono scratched his head. "Well, I don't know how good I'd be at that," he said. "This is my first time here too. But why not, let's hang out."

"Great!" She said. "Lead the way!"

Crono remembered suddenly that he had been on his way to see Lucca's invention. He hoped he wasn't late to its unveiling, he had forgotten to ask her when it was going to be.

"Alright, follow me," he said. "A friend of mine is here unveiling her new invention."

Marle nodded, smiling. They walked ahead, past Leene's Bell, and arrived at the entrance to the far side of the square. There were already a few people waiting outside the entrance, and two Guardian soldiers were standing guard. Crono walked up to them, followed closely by Marle.

"Hey, is Lucca ready yet?" Crono asked them.

"No sir," one of the soldiers said. "I am afraid Miss Ashtear's invention is not ready for unveiling yet at this time. Please wait here or pass time at one of the many attractions here at our wonderful fair."

"Well I'm a friend of hers," Crono said. "So do you think I could get in now?"

"I'm sorry sir," the soldier said. "But due to security reasons, we can not allow anyone into the area until her invention is ready to be presented to the public."

"Oh well," Crono said.

He turned to Marle, a concerned look on his face. "Well, I'm afraid I don't really know what to do until the invention is ready," he said. "Did you see anything good yet, here?"

Marle folded her arms and looked down, thinking. "Well...oh!" She said, perking up again. "I know exactly what I want to do! C'mon, follow me!"

She took Crono by his hand and led him away through the fair, back down the steps to the main plaza. They rushed through the ever-thickening crowd and arrived at a large strength tester, a mallet lying by the bottom of it.

"Let's see how strong you are!" Marle said, handing Crono the mallet. The owner of the strength tester looked with interest at Crono, noting how well in shape he was.

"_Aw man_," the owner thought. "_I sure hope he don't win, I forgot all my prizes at home_."

Crono prepared himself, then lifted the hammer as he ran for the machine, and brought it down hard on the button, rocketing the ball straight up to the bell, ringing it so hard that the whole machine vibrated, almost making the bell fall right off. The owner stared in shock, and Marle cheered.

"Uh, congratulations!" The owner said. "You win..." he searched through his pockets frantically. "Uh...one silver point!" He said, bringing out a silver coin and handing it to Crono.

"Silver point...?" Crono asked, looking quizzically at the man.

"Yeah, ain't the guys at the entrance to the fair tell ya? That's the currency of the fair. You can spend that at our main attraction, Norstein Bekkler's Lab."

"Oh," Crono said. "Well, thanks then!"

"...you think it's a good prize?" The man said under his breath. "Uh, well, you're welcome then! Have a great time with the rest of the fair, kid!"

Crono and Marle made their way to the center of the main plaza, and sat down on a bench next to the fountain. Marle placed her hands on her knees and looked up at the sky, as Crono looked around with interest at all the things going on in the fair.

"So, Crono," Marle said. "You live in Truce, then?"

Crono snapped his attention away from the goings on of the fair, and back to Marle. "Oh, yeah," he said. "All my life."

"What's life like in the village?" She asked.

"It's great," he said. "I can do whatever I want, mostly. Fish, walk in the forest, and spend time with my friends. But what I like doing most of all is practicing my sword fighting."

"Sounds great," she said, smiling. But her smile seemed almost sad.

"What?" He asked. "Can't you do that stuff in your village?"

She shrugged, a sad look in her eyes. "My dad is kind of strict with me," she said. "He never lets me go out and do what I want. He always makes me stay at home, saying that someone like me shouldn't be going out and doing the stuff I wanna do."

"Well, he let you come here at least," Crono said.

She laughed a little bit. "No," she said. "He didn't."

"What?" Crono asked, startled. "He wouldn't let you come to the Millennial Fair? That only happens once every thousand years!"

"I know," she said. "Ridiculous, right?"

"Wait a second," Crono said, getting worried. "Are you running away?"

"Oh no no no," she said quickly. "I couldn't leave him. Yeah, he's a little too protective, but I don't entirely blame him. He has his reasons..."

"I guess so...," Crono said. His eyes wandered over to a sword stand, and he immediately stood up. He took Marle by the hand. "Come on!" He said. She smiled, and let him lead her away.

They arrived at the stand, Crono looking eagerly at all the swords on display. An elderly man, short of stature and wearing rather strange clothes and sunglasses, took notice of Crono and Marle. He walked over to them, a smile on his face.

"An admirer of swords, I see," he said to Crono.

"Yeah, I wish I could have my own real one," Crono said, tapping his sheathed wooden sword. "But my mom doesn't want me getting one until I'm able to join the Guardian army."

"Ah, yes," the swordsmith said. "Your mother is a wise woman. Swords should not be taken lightly, as they are not to be used lightly. Holding a sword is holding lives in your hand. Tell me boy, have you-"he paused, his eyes setting on the pendant in Marle's hand. "My dear," he said to Marle. "May I have a better look at that pendant you are carrying?"

Marle obliged him, holding the pendant up for him to see. He stared at it, seeming to be in awe of it, and yet he also seemed a bit disturbed at the sight of it.

"The pendant!" He said.

"Pardon?" Marle asked, clutching the pendant to her chest.

"Oh..." The swordsmith said. "Forgive me. Young lady, be sure to keep that pendant safe. It seems very valuable."

"Oh, of course," Marle said, smiling. "You can be sure I will."

They took their leave of the swordsmith, pondering his reaction to her pendant. However, they soon forgot again as they walked through the fair, taking in the various sights and sounds. The band was still going, and it was noon by now. And with noon came an abundance of smells from the food stands, causing Crono's stomach to grumble fiercely. They walked over to the food area of the fair, and looked for something good to eat.

Seeing a roast chicken stand, Crono licked his lips and dug into his pocket. He felt around for his money, but strangely it wasn't there.

"Aw man!" Crono said. "Someone stole my money!"

"Oh no!" Marle said. "I can't believe someone would do that! Is this common?"

"At big events like this?" Crono said. "Unfortunately, yes."

Suddenly Crono spotted a large unguarded sack of food on a nearby table. He looked around, trying to see if there was anyone near who it could belong to. Could it be...? Had someone just left it there?

"Wait here," Crono told Marle.

He walked over to the table, looking around.

"Hey," he said to some people nearby. "Does this belong to any of you?" He asked them.

"Oh yeah," one of them said. "That's mine, but I really don't have any room for it. You can have it if you want."

"Really?" Crono asked. "Thanks!"

He eagerly grabbed the sack of food and walked back to Marle, the people he had asked smiling and laughing behind his back. Crono offered some to Marle, who claimed she wasn't hungry. He quickly scarfed the food down, soon feeling full once again. Satisfied, he patted his belly.

"Well, I bet your friend is ready by now," Marle said. "Let's get going, ok?"

"Right," Crono said, nodding.

They walked back to the center square and proceeded towards the area in the back where Lucca's presentation was supposed to be held. They arrived at the entrance again, and found the two guards standing to the side of it this time.

"Is Lucca's presentation ready?" Crono asked them.

"Yes sir," one of them replied. "She is going to begin it very soon."

"Oh, hold on Crono!" Marle said. "I see some candy over there, let me get some real quick."

"Aw c'mon!" Crono said, grabbing Marle's hand as she started to run off. "We're gonna be late!"

"I swear it'll be real quick," Marle said, pulling in the opposite direction. "Please?"

"Oh all right," Crono said.

"Yay!" Marle yelled. "Crono, you're so sweet."

Crono blushed and followed Marle to the candy stand, waiting patiently for her to make her choice. As they stood at the candy stand, one of the guards of Lucca's presentation looked at Marle, narrowing his eyes. He leaned over to the other guard and whispered something to him. The other guard looked at Marle and nodded, then walked off.

"Alright!" Marle said, buying some candy and putting it in her pouch. "Thanks for waiting, Crono."

Crono nodded, and they both finally headed for Lucca's presentation. They walked down the path leading away from the main parts of Leene's Square, and eventually arrived at a meadow on the edge of some woods. Set up here was a strange device, consisting of two fancy platforms, with monitors, switches, and levers by each one. There were a number of people waiting, and Crono could see Lucca and her dad, Taban, discussing something between the two platforms. Lucca nodded and walked over to the left platform, standing on it. Taban stepped a bit closer to the ground, and raised his arms for attention.

"Greetings, everyone!" He said loudly. "Thank you very much for coming to see the unveiling of my beautiful daughter's latest invention! Those of you who live here in Truce know her reputation well. Genius, very inventive, but also a little accident prone."

The people from Truce laughed a little at this, as indeed she was well known for all those qualities, most notably the last one. While she had many successful inventions, she also had quite a few inventions that had turned out to be very combustible.

"But be assured!" Taban continued. "There will be no accidents today! Prior to the festival, this latest invention has been tested thoroughly, as we realize that this time we have your safety in our hands. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I give you my daughter Lucca and her amazing telepod!"

Lucca turned around, and greeted the audience with a wave. She was wearing her usual attire today. A fancy helmet with an antenna sticking out of the top, large glasses, an orange gi and brown shoes. Her green shirt could be seen beneath the gi, and a gray pouch was slung around her shoulder. She also carried a large hammer, and one of her most well known inventions, a gun, was holstered on her belt. Her violet hair stuck out a bit from beneath her helmet.

"Thanks for coming, everyone!" Lucca said. "It's nice to see I haven't scared everyone away from me yet!" She smiled as she said this. "Today, I bring to you one of my most ambitious inventions yet! This telepod will revolutionize transportation. Walking long distances on foot between villages, and using ferries to get across the ocean will be a thing of the past. With the telepod, you will be transported instantly to any other location with a telepod. To use it, you simply step here where I'm standing, and you will be teleported to the platform on the other side. Before I continue, do I have any volunteers to test this amazing technology?"

Crono looked around, and saw that nobody was stepping forward. Not many people were ever willing to be a guinea pig for Lucca. And of course, this was likely the main reason Lucca had invited Crono. Crono stepped forward, volunteering himself for the demonstration.

"Crono!" Lucca said, a big smile coming onto her face. "I didn't see you here!" She quickly remembered she was in front of an audience, and switched into presenter mode again. "Thank you for volunteering to try out my device, sir! Now, if you'll kindly step onto this left platform here, we can begin the demonstration."

Crono obeyed, walking up to the platform and stepping onto it. He waited, as Lucca and her father pressed some buttons on the monitors, and pushed some levers up. Lucca then gave the thumbs up to her dad.

"Ready!" Lucca said.

"Alright!" Taban replied. "Initiate teleport sequence...now!"

Lucca quickly pulled down a lever, and Crono began to feel tingly. He felt a little woozy, and began to wobble around slightly. Then, he disappeared and almost instantly reappeared on the right platform. As the audience clapped and expressed their wonder at this accomplishment, Crono made sure that all of him had been teleported intact, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"It...worked?" Taban asked, blinking. "Uh, it worked!" He said, louder. "There you go, ladies and gentlemen! My genius daughter's mind at work!"

The audience clapped again as Crono stepped down from the platform, and he walked back over to Marle's side.

"How was it?" She asked as the audience continued clapping.

"It was alright," Crono replied. "It makes you feel a bit woozy at first, but that goes away pretty quickly. I'm not quite sure how to describe what it's like when you're actually being teleported."

"Well I'll have to try it myself then!" Marle said, smiling.

"Now of course we still have some tweaking to do so that people can be teleported over longer distances," Lucca said, continuing her presentation. "But now you see what my telepod device is about. I hope that it accomplishes increased relations and travel between villages, to further promote peaceful relationships between territories. Now, do we have any other volunteers?"

Marle's hand immediately shot up. "Me!" She said. "I want to volunteer!"

Lucca blinked, seeing that Marle was standing with Crono.

"Hey, Crono," Lucca said. "How'd you manage to get a girl like her?"

"Hey!" Crono protested, as the audience laughed.

"Well young lady," Taban said, stepping forward. "Just step right up to the telepod device, and we'll let you experience this amazing technology." He turned to the audience as Marle stepped onto the left platform. "Observe, ladies and gentlemen, as this vision of loveliness steps aboard the machine!"

"I'll be right back!" Marle said, winking.

Lucca and Taban went through the same routine they had gone through when they sent Crono through the machine. Lucca gave the thumbs up to Taban, who initiated the telepod. Lucca then pulled down the lever. Strangely though, the telepod stalled. Marle looked down at her hand, as her pendant began to glow.

"My pendant...?" She said. "It's..."

Suddenly she bent over slightly, seeming to be in pain. Electricity shot out from the monitors, and arced between the two telepod devices. The audience gasped, as Taban pulled Lucca away from the monitors so that she wouldn't be electrocuted. Crono stepped forward slightly, anxious at this new development. In the space between the two devices, the air seemed to fluctuate and vibrate, and suddenly a strange hole appeared in the air, the electricity from the machine arcing towards it, feeding it as it grew larger and larger. Inside the hole seemed to be a void of wavy blue patterns, almost looking like the surface of a lake being disturbed. Marle then disappeared, but instead of appearing on the other telepod, she appeared inside of the hole in the air, looking frightened and in pain. Finally, the electricity died down and the hole closed, as everyone stood frozen, staring in shock at the empty space where the girl had disappeared.


	2. The Queen Returns

CHAPTER 2

THE QUEEN RETURNS

Taban hurried everyone out of the square, panicked and not knowing at all what to do.

"Show's over, folks!" Taban yelled. "Go on, enjoy the rest of the fair! Get outta here!"

As the last of the crowd left, Taban rushed to the machine, staring at it at a loss as to what could have happened. He turned to Lucca.

"Lucca!" He yelled. "What happened? Where did she go? We tested that thing thoroughly, and nothing like this ever happened! What the heck is going on?"

"The way she disappeared," Lucca said, more to herself than to her father. "...it couldn't have been the telepod device. All the device seemed to do was transport her into the gate. The way her pendant glowed...I think somehow the warp field was affected by her pendant. But how? And why?"

Crono stood there, staring at a loss at where Marle had stood. Could she be gone forever? No, that gate had to lead somewhere. Suddenly, something on the left telepod device caught his way, much the way it had caught his eye when he was looking for it earlier in the square.

"Her pendant!" Crono yelled, rushing up to the platform and picking it up.

"Crono!" Taban yelled. "Stay away from the telepod, it's dangerous!"

"The pendant!" Lucca said, surprised. "She must have dropped it during the commotion! Crono, let me see it!"

She rushed up to the platform, and Crono handed it to her. She looked at it carefully, rolling it around in her hands. She sighed.

"I don't get it," she said. "It seems to be just an ordinary pendant. Though the material it's made out of is strange...I don't think I've ever seen it before. Another thing that's bugging me...I know I've seen that girl somewhere before. This is all just so strange..."

Crono nodded, and a determined look came onto his face. He placed a hand on Lucca's shoulder.

"Right," Crono said. "It's too strange for us to figure out just by talking about it. We have to take action."

Lucca looked at Crono, and smiled when she saw how determined he looked. She had seen that look on his face many times before, and whenever he had that look she knew that they could solve whatever problem was presented to them. They could do this.

"You're gonna do what I think you're gonna do, aren't you?" Lucca asked him, a half smile on her face.

Crono nodded, and Lucca sighed.

"Right then," Lucca said. "I'll stay here and look into the device, try to figure out exactly what happened. I'll come for you as soon as I figure out how to activate that gate without the use of the telepod device. And here." She tied the necklace together, and put it around Crono's neck. "Make sure you don't lose that pendant, Crono. It's probably very important."

"Alright," Crono said. "I'm ready."

Lucca nodded and stepped down off of the platform, then stepped over to the monitor. Taban stepped over to the other one, sweating. Lucca gave the thumbs up to Taban, and he activated the machine. Lucca pulled down on the lever, just as before, and the telepod stalled again as the pendant began to glow. Electricity began arcing between the two platforms once again, and Lucca and Taban stepped back. Lucca looked over to Crono, concern on her face. Crono gave her a reassuring grin and thumbs up, and she smiled and gave him a thumbs up back.

The gate opened, and Crono soon found himself inside of it. He fell backwards through the void, as the gate closed and his view of Lucca and Taban disappeared. He seemed to have no control at all as to where he was going, falling freely. The void carried him for a long distance, the swirling water-like patterns all around him. Finally he was flung out from the void, and fell hard onto the ground. He lay there; breathing hard as the gate above him closed.

He got up, brushing himself off and looking at his surroundings. He seemed to be in a forested area. It didn't look like any place he was familiar with, so it couldn't have been any place in Guardia, as he had explored much of the kingdom. Nearby he could make out the trickle of a creek, which reminded him that he was thirsty. He took out his canteen and drank some lemonade as he looked around.

"Marle!" He shouted, hoping she'd hear him. "Hey! Marle! Are you there?"

He waited, hoping he would receive a response. He did, though it wasn't quite the response he had been hoping for. Some strange, mischievous laughter came from the shrubbery around him.

"I'm right here, precious!" Said a high pitched, almost screechy voice.

There was more of that strange laughter, as a trio of imps emerged from hiding, surrounding Crono. Crono put his hand on the hilt of his wooden sword, preparing himself for the inevitable.

"I don't want any trouble," Crono said. "I don't have any quarrel with mystics, so just move along."

"Ahh," said one of the imps. "No quarrel with mystics, yes? Intriguing, yes!"

The three imps laughed, still circling Crono menacingly.

"No quarrel with mystics this human says!" Said another imp. "Tell me, human! Do you fear us?"

Crono hesitated, not knowing if there even was a right answer to this question.

"No," he said.

One of them growled. "You are looking for her, yes?" He asked. "The one who is important to you! That damned blonde woman!"

"You've seen her?" Crono asked. "Please, tell me where she is!"

"Yes, we've seen her," said the imp. "Don't know how she escaped Master Yakra, but escaped she did apparently."

"We will not let you escape us though, human!" Said one of the other imps. "We are hungry, and we desire human flesh!"

The imp charged at Crono, and leaped at him. Crono sidestepped the imp, causing him to land on the ground face first. The imp growled and leaped back to his feet.

"What are you doing?" Crono yelled. "You're violating the treaty!"

"Treaty?" The imp asked. "There is no treaty! We are at war, fool!"

"But there hasn't been a war between humans and mystics for 400 years!" Crono said.

"Fool human!" The imp yelled. "We do not know what you are babbling about! The great Magus leads us in glorious war against you foul humans! Now die!"

The imp leaped at Crono again, and Crono, surprised by the second attack and also by the mention of the name "Magus", smacked the imp on the side of the head with his sword. The imp plummeted to the ground, unconscious. At this, the other imps growled and both charged at Crono, who ran out of the clearing away from the imps. He emerged from the brush to find himself in what appeared to be a small canyon, a creek running down the center of it. He looked from side to side, and spotted a rope ladder leading up a ledge. He jumped onto it, climbing up swiftly as the imps ran after him, yelling profanities. He didn't know what was going on, or why the imps thought they still served Magus, but Crono did not want to risk violating the treaty between humans and mystics, as tenuous as the peace was.

Crono looked back, to see the imps grab hold of the feet of a couple of eaglets, and head straight for him. Crono ran across a bridge, where one of the imps sideswiped him, almost causing him to fall off. Crono regained his balance on the fragile, small rope bridge, and ducked as the next imp swooped down at him. He then continued across, and touched solid ground again on the other side. He leaped down another ledge, as one of the imps jumped down from his eaglet ride onto a passing roly, a green armadillo like animal. The imp rode it like a ball, speeding after the bewildered Crono.

Crono turned around suddenly, just as the imp jumped up and kicked the roly out from under him, straight at Crono. Crono held out his wooden sword and then swung it like a bat, hitting the roly and sending it right back at the imp, nailing it right in the face. Seeing this, the other imp still with its eaglet retreated, and Crono was finally left in peace. He continued on until he finally exited the hostile canyon.

Crono thought about what the imps had said. Magus? Did they really think they still served that wizard? His forces had been defeated 400 years ago, and a treaty had been signed between the mystics and humans soon after, that forbade combat between the two. The imps must have been radicals, who still worshipped Magus and hoped to ignite another war between the humans and mystics. He'd have to consult someone about this. But first, he needed to figure out where he was, and search for Marle.

He found a dirt path and walked down it, past landscapes that were vaguely familiar. This area looked a bit like the area around Truce, but it was too different. For one, there wasn't a huge crowd gathering for the Millennial Fair, and there were no merchants lining the sides. Also, the direction he had come from would have been from Leene Square, but there was none. It gave him a creepy feeling, but he dismissed it, not quite knowing why it gave him such a feeling.

He took another drink from his lemonade, and then put it away. He continued walking, always calling for Marle and never receiving a reply. He hoped the gate hadn't sent them to entirely different places. If so, Lucca would be just as lost when she went through it.

By now it was getting darker, and Crono finally came upon a village. His hopes were low, having not found Marle yet, but they were lifted slightly coming upon the village. Perhaps she'd be here. He wondered what village it was that he had arrived at. It was smaller than Truce, and definitely quieter. Most of its residents were probably in Truce right now. Crono then paused. Why was he assuming he was even in the same world? The gate very well could've sent him to a completely different world, even a different dimension.

His thoughts soon stumbled upon the answer. Because if it was the same world, at least it'd be more familiar to him. He shuddered at the thought of being sent to an entirely different world or universe. Talk about being totally alone.

He looked for an Inn, thinking that if she had come to this village, Marle would most likely be staying there. As he walked through the streets of the village, he felt the cool sea breeze. It reminded him a lot of Truce, actually. And not just the sea breeze. The layout of the village in fact was very reminiscent of Truce. He felt as if he knew exactly where he was going.

He turned a corner and stared. This was too weird. He had come to the inn exactly how he'd come to it if this were Truce village. He turned on the same number of streets, in the exact same direction. In fact, the street names were the same as in Truce. He stared even harder as he saw the name of the inn. Truce Inn. He couldn't believe it. He was in Truce.

He pondered, wondering how he had come back to Truce. But it couldn't be Truce. None of the neighborhood his house was in had been seen on his way into the village. And yet, here was Truce Inn, so recognizable to him now after living here for 16 years. Here was Truce Inn, written right on the sign. Suddenly an idea dawned on him, and he got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He ran to the nearest person.

"Excuse me!" Crono said urgently. "Can you tell me what year it is? I, uh...have slight amnesia."

"Uh...huh," the woman said, looking at him oddly. "It's 600 AD, and not to be rude but those are the strangest clothes I've ever seen on a person."

Crono was in shock. He quietly walked away from the woman, not even hearing the second thing she had said. 600 AD. So his feeling had been right. Somehow, he had been sent back in time. That gate was a time warp. He was now in the age of war between humans and mystics, the age of the powerful wizard Magus.

Crono sat in the inn, sipping on a mug of cider, hunched over in his chair at the bar. His hand was on his forehead, as he contemplated all that had happened. He had questioned everyone in the inn, and no one knew anything about Marle. All he had found out was that the queen of these times, by the name of Queen Leene, had recently been found in the same area that he and Marle had been at, the canyon. Crono planned to go to the castle the next day, and hoped the castle officials in this time were more welcoming to commoners than the ones in his own time.

As he sat at the bar, the door of the inn opened and a rugged looking man walked in. He had brown hair and a mustache, and wore what were clearly the clothes of an experienced traveler. An orange jacket, white shirt and brown pants with orange boots. A bandanna was also tied around his forehead. He smiled at the woman who ran the check in desk, who did her best to avoid his gaze. As he came over to the bar, the barkeep raises his arms.

"Toma!" The barkeep said. "What a pleasant surprise, to see you here after so long! What brings you to these parts?"

Toma sat down at the bar, next to Crono. "Cider please," he said to the barkeep. "And yeah, it's good to see you too," he said, with a quick smile. "Anyway, I came to Guardia when I heard that your Queen was missing. I did some checking around, and I think I have something. You know that cathedral in Yakra's Forest? I went in there, and-"

"Toma, Toma," the barkeep interrupted. "Save your breath, friend. We have just received news from some of our soldiers that Queen Leene has been found in Truce Canyon. She's safe and sound, though they say she was acting a bit strangely."

"Eh?" Toma said. "Really? Well I'll be damned. I was sure there was something fishy about that cathedral, but if they've found her I suppose I was wrong. Strangest thing though," he continued. "I went into that cathedral, and those nuns in there! They really creeped me out. It was almost as if they were sizing me up like a rancher sizes up which cattle are ready to be slaughtered for the feast."

"Oh well they're bound to be a bit odd," the barkeep replied, handing Toma his cider. "They're all the way out in Yakra's Forest for goodness sake. They're just reclusive."

Having no further interest in the conversation, Crono got up and headed over to the check in desk, ready to call it a night. The woman smiled at him as he approached.

"Good evening, sir," she said. "Would you like a room for the night?"

"Yes please," Crono said.

"15 gold coins sir," she said.

Crono handed her the money, thankful that they still used the same currency in this time. In fact he hadn't considered that at all before now.

The clerk handed Crono his room key, and he headed up the stairs. If he weren't so worried about Marle and his current situation, he probably would be enjoying this a lot more, he realized. The inn was actually very cozy; it seemed even cozier than in his own time. Candles dimly lighted the halls, and it was very quiet. The only noise was the sound of talking heard faintly coming from the bar downstairs.

Crono arrived at the door to his room, and he went inside. It was pretty small, being a room only for one person. Looking around the room, Crono realized with a sinking feeling that there was absolutely no toilet in the room, and he wondered where they went to the bathroom in this time. Crono walked over to the window of his room and peered outside. The night was misty, giving it a mysterious quality. He sighed, and hoped with all his heart that Marle was all right.

Crono set off the next day for the castle. He walked out to the middle of town, where a fountain was in his time, and peered northwestwards. Sure enough, just as in his time, there in the distance was the castle, past the upward sloping Guardia Forest. Of course it appeared very small from Truce, but it was visible just the same.

He left Truce, after following the road out of town for a while. Soon the road turned into a dirt path, and skirted the edge of Guardia Forest. He heard many familiar birdcalls, and it occurred to him how little the environment itself must have changed over 400 years. The natural world truly was more permanent and durable than civilization. He wondered if the path through Guardia Forest was the same as well. If so, that would make his journey through the forest much easier.

The path skirting the edge of Guardia Forest soon took him into the wildlands of Guardia, having passed the last farm a while ago. He fingered the hilt of his sword, not quite knowing what to expect in these days of war in the wildlands. Depending on exactly how far along the war was, the front would be either closer or farther to Truce and the castle. He had read that at one point, there had been battles right in front of the main entrance into Guardia Forest. That had been at the very start of the war though, when the mystics had launched their initial, surprise attack.

Finally Crono arrived at the main entrance into Guardia Forest, finding the familiar path, and even what seemed to be the same sign that pointed the way to Guardia Castle. Reassured by these things, Crono stepped into the forest with little hesitation.

The canopy above him caused the sunlight to shine into the forest in broken patches, making warm spots of sunlight in various places of the forest. It was of course dimmer in the forest than outside, but none of the mist was present. Crono stuck to the path, and soon came to another familiar sight. Just like in 1000 AD, there was a fork in the path. The left way was quicker, but in his time it was rarely used due to a colony of Hetakes making their home there.

Of course, it was impossible that this same colony was still there now, so Crono decided to take the left path. And indeed, he was right. In the small clearing that usually contained the mushroom-like monsters, there was nothing. He walked through the clearing at a steady pace, happy at the way things were turning out so far today. The familiarity had strengthened his resolve once more. As he exited the clearing, he heard a rustling in the bushes, and turned around to see what was causing it.

Stepping out cautiously from the bushes was a strange creature he had never seen before in his time. It was short and plump, and had an abundance of fuzzy white fur. Its face was hairless, and it had ears that stuck out quite far. It seemed harmless enough, so Crono gave it a friendly smile. The strange creature stepped forward a bit more, apparently curious about this new visitor to the forest.

Crono kneeled down a bit, and held his hand out cautiously to the creature. The creature put his own paw on Crono's hand slowly and then grasped his hand. It gave a strange sort of purring noise, but suddenly as the purring noise strengthened, so too did the creatures grip. It swung Crono away, causing Crono to stumble and fall onto the ground.

"Hey!" Crono yelled.

The creature gave a sort of victory whistle and jumped onto Crono, taking his pouch and then running away into the forest. Crono got up quickly and made a sort of half hearted attempt to give chase before he realized he'd likely never find the creature in this forest, and would probably get lost himself if he strayed off of the path. So he reluctantly continued on.

"Man..." he said as he walked the path. "My lemonade was in there."

Disappointed at his loss but still determined to go on, the teenage boy continued his walk through the forest. Eventually he came to the point at which the two divergent paths once again met and continued on. As Crono passed this spot, he once again, but very brief this time, heard a rustling in the brush. He unsheathed his wooden sword this time, and snuck up to the bush. He did it very quietly, in case whatever was in there couldn't see out of the bush very well. He raised his sword slowly, and then brought it down hard onto the bush. There was a squeak, and the same fuzzy white creature fell out of the bush, dropping Crono's stolen pouch and running away. Crono chuckled, happy to get his pouch back. He'd be doubly careful the rest of the way through the forest.

The rest of the trip through the forest passed rather uneventfully. Luckily the front was apparently further away from the forest and castle. He hadn't heard a single sign of battle before entering the forest, and besides the fuzzy white thief, nothing was going on inside the forest as well.

He arrived outside of the forest, and found himself looking up the rest of the upward slope at the now very close Guardia Castle. The beautiful castle towered above him, overlooking almost all of Guardia. As Crono walked up the slope, he looked around him. In the distance to the southeast could be seen the village of Truce. Almost directly to the far south, the line of the ocean could be seen, and Crono knew that Zenan Bridge still lay in that direction in this time period. To the southwest could be seen what seemed to be an extension of Guardia Forest that Crono wasn't familiar with. He wondered if that was Yakra's Forest that Toma and the barkeep had mentioned.

Crono arrived at the large doors of Guardia Castle. He could sense himself being watched from the guard towers as he walked up to the wooden doorway. As he arrived he realized how foolish he had been to hope that they would be more welcoming than the castle officials in his time would. Of course they wouldn't! They were at war right now, and a human spy for the mystics was not a concept that was out of the question.

The doors were opened for him, and he stepped inside the castle. The soft, red carpet of the castle's floor, the glow of torchlight, and the suspicious faces of the guards greeted him as they closed the door behind Crono. The door closed, and as soft as it was, it echoed throughout the castle, alerting every soldier and knight there that someone had arrived. It was probably very effective to keep them on alert in case they heard any sort of struggle or conflict afterwards. The guards walked up to Crono, sizing him up.

"State your name and business now, boy," one of them said.

"My name is Crono," Crono replied. "And I've come to ask the queen a question."

"Hmph," the guard said. "That's a pathetic reason for us to let you pass. Be more specific. What's your question, and why do you think it's good enough to grant you audience with her majesty?"

"I want to ask her if she saw any sign of my friend when she was in Truce Canyon," Crono replied. "She's missing, and around Truce Canyon is where she was last seen."

The other guard chuckled. "Check out this kid's hair," he said, seeming to ignore Crono's reply. "You one of Magus's troopers? I've never seen a normal human with hair like that."

"Please, let me pass," Crono said. "I'm really worried about my friend. It's just a single question."

The guard who had initially greeted Crono laughed, then got a stern look on his face. "We're at war, son. We don't have time for your ridiculous requests. If the soldiers who had found Leene had seen any girl, they'd be searching for her. But apparently they haven't, as they're down in the mess hall eating right now."

"But what if Leene-"

"Beat it, shrimp!" The guard yelled, grasping his spear.

"Stop that at once!" A somewhat familiar voice demanded sternly.

Crono and the guards looked up the nearby steps to see the queen herself standing in front of the doors to the throne room. Crono was amazed when he saw her. She looked exactly like Marle!

"Show your manners!" She said angrily. "This is a friend of mine. This young man is the one who found me, and led the other soldiers to me."

Crono immediately picked up on what was going on. She didn't look exactly like Marle, she was Marle! This meant the real queen must look almost exactly like Marle, but then it also meant...

"But, your highness!" The soldier started.

Marle gave the soldier a look that shut him up immediately.

"You dare question my orders?" She asked.

"Forgive me..." he said, and turned to Crono. "Please enter, sir."

Marle giggled, and stepped into the throne room. Crono stepped past the two guards, giving them a wave as he passed them. They looked away sheepishly, as he stepped up the steps and into the throne room. He hesitated immediately as his eyes met those of King Guardia himself, sitting on his throne at the far end of the room. Marle was whispering something to him, then smiled at Crono and left the room, going up some stairs to the right of the thrones.

Crono stepped forward slowly, the king and the chancellor watching him as he walked down the long, red carpet of the throne room. As he arrived near the king, the chancellor (who looked very grumpy) stepped forward and addressed Crono.

"Please kneel and state your name so the king may hear," the chancellor said loudly.

Crono kneeled and spoke his name for the king to hear. King Guardia nodded at Crono, and Crono stood up slowly. The king of this time seemed to be about middle aged, with a gray mustache and hair. He wore the same fancy clothing that King Guardia of Crono's time wore. However, a sword sat at the side of the throne. It was customary during times of war for the king to carry a sword with him at all times.

"I understand that you are the fine young man who found my dear wife," King Guardia said to Crono.

"Yes, your highness," Crono said, playing along with Marle's ruse. "I found her while looking for a friend of mine. She is missing as well."

"My word!" The king said. "I'm very sorry to hear that, young man. Was she in Truce Canyon as well? Would you like me to send out a group of soldiers to look for her?"

Crono shook his head, starting to think this little ruse was getting out of hand. He and Marle could get into serious trouble for this if they were found out.

"I wouldn't want to trouble you, your highness," Crono said. "I have a feeling we'll find her soon anyway."

"I insist!" King Guardia said. "First thing tomorrow after I knight you, we will send you out with a group of soldiers to continue the search for your friend."

"Knight me?" Crono asked, startled.

"Why of course!" King Guardia said. "You found my wife, and was willing to look for your friend in dangerous territory! Those are acts worthy of knighthood!"

"But, uh," Crono continued, getting nervous. "Don't you need all the soldiers you can spare to fight Magus's army?"

King Guardia sighed, a less cheerful mood coming upon him now that the threat of Magus was once again put into his head.

"It is true, we are having some trouble in the war," he said. "But no, I can certainly spare some soldiers to look for your friend. If I could spare them for my wife, certainly I can spare them for your friend. This is my final decision."

"Thank you, your highness," Crono said, bowing and not knowing how he was going to get out of this situation.

"Now, my wife has expressed her wish to speak with you," King Guardia continued. "But first we both insist that you have something to eat in the dining hall downstairs. You will find it through the door you came, and down a staircase located to the left."

Crono bowed again, and then took his leave of the king, heading in the direction that he had been told. As he walked through the castle, he could see various maids and guards looking at him as he passed, whispering to each other. He was the center of attention for something he didn't do, and if he was found out he could be charged with aiding whoever it was that kidnapped the queen.

And there was the other problem. With Marle being here, that meant the queen was still missing. And now no one was looking for her. Wherever she was, her kidnappers were free to do whatever they desired.

Crono walked down the stairs, the smell of delicious food becoming present as he entered the dining hall. Here, many soldiers were assembled at various tables, enjoying their meals. A number of beverage filled barrels lined the walls, and Crono wondered if Guardian lemonade existed in this time yet.

"Oh, you must be Crono!" Said a maid that Crono hadn't noticed before now.

"Oh," Crono said. "Uh, yeah I am. The king invited me to get something to eat here before meeting with the queen."

"Yes, we were told you'd be coming down here," she said. "We've prepared a table just for you, sir. Please follow me."

Crono was led through the dining hall, past the soldier filled tables, to an empty table near the middle of the hall. The maid seated him, and then went to get him some food. As he sat waiting, a group of knights entered the hall, led by a knight clad in golden armor and a red cape. Clearly he was the knight captain.

"Maid!" The knight captain called. "Where are you? My men are hungry!"

The knights accompanying him seated themselves as the knight captain stood waiting for the maid, who quickly ran out of the kitchen to see to their needs.

"My men are fighting a war out there!" The knight captain yelled. "Can't you even keep us fed? These brave knights are fresh from the battlefield and you're messing around in the kitchen instead of waiting out here seeing that my men are served promptly!"

"Forgive me, sir," the maid said. "But I was just telling the chef what to make for the young man who found Queen Leene."

"Is he here?" The knight said, looking around the hall. "I'd like to congratulate that young man myself."

"Oh yes, he's sitting near the middle of the room over there," the maid said, pointing Crono out to him. Crono smiled weakly at them.

"Thank you," the knight said to the maid. "Oh uh, now please see to it that my men get their food as well."

"Certainly sir," the maid said, then rushed back to the kitchen.

The knight captain walked over to Crono, and held out his gauntlet clad hand. Crono stood up, and shook his hand.

"It is an honor to meet you," the knight captain said.

"The honor is mine, sir," Crono said.

The knight captain smiled and nodded at Crono, then an inquisitive look came upon his face. "Tell me, how did you happen to come upon the queen? I was so sure that my men had combed that area thoroughly."

Crono winced, having to go through this lie again. "Well, I was looking for my friend, who's missing as well. That's when I found the queen, in...a clearing not far from the main canyon."

"I see..." the knight captain said. "Well, our queen is strong. Perhaps she escaped from her captors and arrived there after we had combed the area. Nevertheless, a fine job. And what of your friend?"

"The king has graciously offered to lend me some soldiers to help in the search for her," Crono said, groaning inside.

"Ah, well I assure you that you could find no better help," the knight captain replied. "My men are the best help you can get. Speaking of which, have you considered joining the Guardian army? We could use a young man like you, especially with this war going on."

"Actually, I-"

Crono was interrupted by a loud bang coming from the kitchen, and the chef running out with an angry look on his face. He looked around the dining hall, and seeing the knight captain he walked over to him and Crono very quickly.

"Hey!" He yelled at the knight captain. "Who do you think you are, storming into my dining hall and giving my assistants trouble? Do you think fighting a war gives you the right to act like that?"

"Brother, please," the knight captain said, shutting his eyes as if he had a bad headache. "This war grates on one's nerves, and I do apologize for how I treated your lovely assistant. But your continued badgering of me grates on my nerves as well."

"You're not the only ones fighting in this war!" The chef yelled. "I work night and day making sure all your troops are fed, and on top of that I now have to accommodate the strange tastes the queen seems to have acquired during her absence! Do you know what "eyes cream" is, because I sure hope it's not what it sounds like! My nerves are being grated as well!"

"That does not excuse you from yelling at me like this!" The knight captain replied.

"Oh, but one apology from you and I'm supposed to excuse you for yelling at my assistants?" The chef yelled back at him.

The knight captain clenched his fists, and stormed out of the dining hall, his cape flowing behind him as he left.

"Here's your food!" The chef yelled at Crono, slamming a plate of food down in front of him and storming back into the kitchen.

Crono blinked and sat still in his chair, the argument and sudden serving of his food taking him by surprise. He then began on his food, in a total daze after all that had happened that day and the day before. He was sure he was going to go insane if this kept up.

Having finished his meal, Crono headed towards the queen's chamber to finally have a word with Marle. He walked through the throne room, the king apparently being up in his own room now, since only the chancellor was there now. The chancellor, a short bearded man, looked suspiciously at Crono as he walked by, and fell into step beside Crono as he walked.

"Hello there," Crono said as they walked.

"Yes, yes, hello," the chancellor said in a rushed tone of voice. "I was wondering if I might ask you a few questions, boy."

"Not again," Crono thought. "Yeah, ok," he said to the chancellor.

"You say you found the queen in Truce Canyon?" The chancellor asked him.

Crono nodded, wondering why he was being asked this yet again.

"Hmmm..." The chancellor said. "How can that be...? That's nowhere near where we expected her to be."

"Really?" Crono asked. "But the knight captain said his men had searched there."

"Yes, yes, quite," the chancellor said. "Those buffoons think it prudent to search in every possible place, wasting manpower and valuable time. I'm wondering however..." the chancellor trailed off, seeming to go into his own thoughts. "Excuse me, I have something I must look into," he said, and began to walk out of the throne room. "You there," he said to a passing maid. "Tell the king that I have gone for a moment to the cathedral, to gather my thoughts and pray. Have him send my attendant if he needs me for anything."

The maid nodded, and she and the chancellor left the throne room. Crono pondered the chancellor's hasty questions and quick exit. He soon remembered what he was doing, though, and so began up the spiral staircase to the queen's room.

At the top of the staircase he found a knight guarding the door leading to the queen's chambers. The knight recognized immediately who Crono was, and bowed as he stepped aside and opened the door for Crono. Crono nodded politely to the knight, and walked through the door into the hallway leading finally to the queen's room. Lining the walls of the hallway was Guardia's royal crest, an orange and red shield bearing the silhouette of a lean, spiky dragon. Crono arrived at the end of the hall, and entered the queen's room.

Marle turned around in front of the window, to see who had come in. Seeing Crono, she excused the two maids from the room so they could talk in privacy. With the maids gone, Marle burst into a run and hugged Crono, surprising him greatly.

"I'm so glad you came for me!" She said, still hugging him. She then let go and smiled at him. "I knew you would."

Crono smiled and nodded, then his face grew serious. "Marle, why did you let them believe you're the queen? We could get in a lot of trouble if they find out the truth, and this means the real queen is still in danger too."

"I know, I'm sorry," Marle said. "I was just so confused and scared when I came out of that weird hole thing that I didn't know what to do."

"Yeah, I can understand that," Crono said. "But we need to figure out what we're going to do now to get out of this mess. I think we should find the real queen. It's our fault she's not being looked for anymore anyway."

Marle nodded. "You're right. But let's wait until early tomorrow morning, and leave before your knighting. But wait, do we even know where to look?"

"I have a pretty good idea," Crono said. "When I was in Truce village someone mentioned a strange cathedral. And the chancellor acted pretty surprised that 'the queen' was found, and went to the cathedral. I think the chancellor is involved, and is holding the real queen there."

"I see..." Marle said. "The chancellor has been acting pretty strangely, and didn't seem happy to see me at all."

"Yeah, he definitely has something to do with it," Crono continued. "Alright, so let's-hey, what's wrong?"

Marle was bent over, and her eyes were closed tight as if she were in pain. "What's happening...?" she said, gasping.

A faint blue glow started to emanate from her, bathing the room in it's eerie light. Marle stumbled, catching herself on a nearby table. Crono rushed to help her up, but was startled as his hands passed right through her. He backed away slightly, not having a clue what was going on. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

"Crono...!" She said, between pained breaths. "It hurts! What's happening to me? Crono, I'm scared! Please-"

She stopped short, and screamed. The blue light emanating from her blazed, causing Crono to shield his eyes. A brighter, white light engulfed Marle, and it grew more and more intense until finally the light dissipated completely, leaving absolutely no sign of Marle. Once again she had disappeared, and this time Crono had absolutely no way of following her.

Crono stood in shock, having no idea what he was going to do now. His heart raced, with him not knowing what just happened to Marle. His thoughts soon turned to what would happen to him if someone came into the room, having heard Marle's scream and finding only Crono there. This situation kept getting worse and worse, and Crono was exhausted just from all the worrying he'd been doing lately.

He jumped as the door to the room opened, and he turned to face it, backing up and looking for a way of escaping. However, his nerves were relaxed and he was almost overjoyed to see a familiar face peek into the room. It was Lucca. Seeing Crono, she stepped into the room all the way, and closed the door behind her.

"Finally I find you!" Lucca exclaimed. "Uh..." she looked around the room. "Where is she?"

Crono sat on the bed, looking dazed.

"I have no clue where she is, Lucca," he said.

"But the maids said the "queen" was in here," Lucca replied, confused. "I figured they mistook Marle for the queen, so..."

"They did," Crono said. "And she was here...a moment ago. I was standing right in front of her. But all of the sudden she seemed to be in pain. And then...she disappeared. Right in front of my eyes." Crono clenched his fists and turned to face Lucca. "What happened to her, Lucca?" He said angrily. "What's going on?"

Lucca looked at her friend, feeling sorry that she had let him jump into all this having no idea what was going on. She had the luxury of studying up on things; he had gone through this blind. She walked over to Crono, and leaned against the table across from him. She folded her hands in thought.

"Ok..." Lucca said. "The first thing you need to know is who Marle really is. I knew I recognized her when I first saw her at the fair, but I wasn't sure where from. I figured it out while I was thinking about that strange hole that appeared at my presentation. The truth is that in our time, she's Princess Nadia."

Crono stared, shocked and yet not too shocked. He should've known it from the start, but he had never thought of it. Seeing the princess in public was very rare, and no one ever saw her in casual clothes.

"That explains why she and Queen Leene apparently look so much alike," Crono said. "But that doesn't explain what just happened."

"Yes it does," Lucca said. "But it requires some thinking. When Marle...I mean, Princess Nadia...appeared here, they called off the search for Queen Leene because they thought they had found her. That means that nothing was to stop whoever abducted the real queen from carrying out their plan. Apparently, this plan is murder. That's why Princess Nadia disappeared. Her influence on this time changed history, killing Leene and so causing Princess Nadia to no longer exist."

"So we can't do anything..." Crono said. "Marle is...dead?"

"Now hold on," Lucca said. "Don't lose hope too quickly. Queen Leene may not be dead yet, so we might still be able to bring Princess Nadia back. Time has already erased Princess Nadia because there is no factor within this timeline that can effect the fate of Queen Leene. But there are outside factors. Namely, you and I. We're from a different time. We don't become a factor in this time until we do something to actually effect it. Being outside factors, we have to earn our place in this era. Well...in theory, I mean."

"We better act fast, then," Crono said. "Who knows when even we won't be able to do anything."

Lucca nodded. "Right," she said. "But, uh...we better not leave the way we came. There will be way too many questions."

"So how do we get out of here then?" Crono asked.

Lucca pondered the problem, and walked over to the window and looked down. She looked back at Crono and smiled sweetly.

"It's not too far down," she said.


	3. The Queen is Gone

(Author's note: I take long enough, guys? Sorry about this, this chapter was just really difficult to write for some reason. I suppose since a large part of it takes place entirely within a cathedral.)

CHAPTER 3

THE QUEEN IS GONE

Crono and Lucca looked back up at the castle they had just escaped from, hoping they wouldn't see any soldiers coming after them. Luckily, they didn't. Apparently they had slipped out of the castle unnoticed, so they had plenty of time to get away from it. As they walked back down the slope towards Guardia Forest, they talked about what to do.

"Where could the queen be?" Lucca asked. "Did you hear anything in town, Crono?"

"Yeah," Crono said. "I was talking to Marle about it before she disappeared. When I was staying at Truce Inn, I heard the barkeep and a guy named Toma talk about a cathedral. Toma said it was really strange there, plus on my way to the queen's room to talk with Marle, the chancellor was acting really strange, like he almost couldn't believe the queen was back. He also said he was going to the cathedral."

"Yeah, I saw the chancellor on my way into the castle," Lucca said. "That guy's definitely shifty. So where is this cathedral?"

"I'm...not exactly sure," Crono said. "I think if we walk to the west along the southern rim of Guardia Forest, we should come to it."

"Right then," Lucca said. "Let's do it."

They traveled down the slope and back into Guardia Forest, staying on guard due to Crono's experience in the forest before. On their way through the forest they could hear hints of imp activity. They were obviously lurking in the forest to spy on any Guardian soldier or official travelling through it. The Guardian military probably hadn't cleaned it out yet because they had been so consumed in the search for Queen Leene.

In fact, it was a wonder that the front line hadn't come closer to the castle and the village. The entire castle had seemed so preoccupied with the queen. Apparently even the knight captain had taken part in the search for her. Crono wondered exactly how many troops the Guardian military consisted of at this time period. It had to be a lot, to be able to split their efforts so successfully. In 1000 AD, the military was much smaller. Despite the looming threat of another war between humans and mystics, people were convinced that times were peaceful, so not many were joining the military.

The forest grew dimmer as the long day came to a close, and the sun set. The patches of light in the forest grew fainter and fainter until the patches were no more and the ground of the forest was nothing but shadow. Crono shivered as the sun rested for the day, taking warmth away from the world for the night.

"Hey," he said to Lucca. "Did you happen to bring anything to start a fire?"

"Of course," Lucca said, digging into her pouch. "This is me we're talking about after all."

She brought out a lighter, and some papers. Crono gathered together some wood after they had picked out a clearing. They were actually near the southern entrance of the forest, but it was so dark that they had just decided to stop for the night. They started a fire, and comforted themselves with its warmth and light.

"So how did you follow us?" Crono asked Lucca.

"Oh, right," Lucca said. "I was meaning to explain that. Here, let me get it out..."

She rummaged through her pouch some more and brought out a strange looking object. It was a rod, on the end of which was a round green stone, and branching off from it on all sides were five more, smaller green stones.

"I call this the Gate Key," Lucca said, always glad to have a chance to admire her handiwork. "This stone is similar in composition to the mysterious jewel of Marle's pendant. However, it's not as powerful so requires more than one to work properly with the rest of the key. Inside the gate key are the principal components of my telepod device, mainly the ones that reacted to the pendant and deal with the warp field. Of course, it doesn't work everywhere. It's not nearly powerful enough for that. For whatever reason, there are certain points where the fabric of space-time is less stable than in the rest of the world. The area I put my telepod device was one of them, apparently."

"So, is there any way to know where a gate will send you?" Crono asked.

"Well, no," Lucca said. "It's really a leap of faith. Gates do seem to be consistent though, if the gate we used is a typical one. They'll always send you to the same time period, though apparently not always at the same exact moment. Gates apparently age along with the era they're in, otherwise Princess Nadia, you, and I would have arrived in this era at the exact same moment, along with any other person or thing that would ever or has ever traveled through that gate."

"Wow, you've already figured out a lot about these gates," Crono said in an admiring tone.

"Heh, yeah," Lucca said, smiling. "Of course there's still a lot more to find out about them. Like what exactly causes them, what elements the space inside them is made of, among many other things. I haven't gotten a chance yet, but once this is all over I'll definitely conduct more studies and experiments on the gates."

The rest of the night was spent quietly, both of them thinking their own individual thoughts. But all the thoughts centered on what had happened the past few days. Of course, those who had witnessed what had happened likely thought it was just part of the show. And neither Crono nor Lucca intended to tell them otherwise when they got back.

The next day, Crono and Lucca emerged from Guardia Forest, though they didn't stray too far from its borders. They needed to follow it as it stretched westwards, so that they could find the cathedral where they suspected Queen Leene was being held. They walked quickly, not wanting to have to rest another night before finding the queen. For all they knew, she could already be dead.

They began to get worried as the day wore on and they still saw no sign of the cathedral. It was past noon now, and the sun traveled onwards through the sky. Lucca began to get worried, so Crono climbed a nearby tree to see if he could spot any sign of the cathedral. He put his hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the sun. He peered around, and luckily managed to catch a glimpse of what seemed to be the very top of a tall roof to the west, surrounded by some forest. He was lucky to see it, as most of that area was covered by mist.

He climbed down the tree and told Lucca of his discovery. Spirits lifted, they traveled quicker than before. Unfortunately, the cathedral turned out to be farther away than Crono had guessed. He had failed to spot a downward slope, and the lowlands went on for a bit before sloping back upwards again. With all the trees obscuring the true level of the ground, this gap hadn't been very apparent from Crono's treetop view.

The sun had set when finally they came to a gateway that opened to lead further into the forest. This branch of the forest had more gnarled looking trees, and they were packed closer together, making it darker inside the forest. This had to be Yakra's Forest, the home of the cathedral.

Crono and Lucca stepped through the gateway, decorated with innocent looking cherub statues on either side. They looked out of place in a forest like this, and Crono dwelt on that as they walked a cobblestone path through the forest, which they guessed led to the cathedral. It had to, there had been no other sign of civilization on the way there.

Eventually the forest gave way to a clearing, where another wall surrounded the cathedral itself. The gates were currently open, and the moon could be seen in the sky above, unobstructed by trees. Whereas two cute cherubs had guarded the entrance to the forest path, two large archangel statues, holding spears outwards towards the path, guarded the walled entrance that surrounded the cathedral. There was something in their stance and faces however, that to Crono didn't seem to indicate something of a holy nature.

Crono and Lucca walked up to the large doors of the cathedral, looking at each other to make sure that they wanted to enter this place. With a sigh, Crono pushed the doors open and they stepped in, Lucca's hand hovering over her still holstered gun. They looked around cautiously as they walked through the lighted cathedral. Everything was quiet inside, and no one was in the pews. It seemed to be a completely normal cathedral. At the front was an altar, moonlight from outside shining onto it. A piano was situated near it.

"Oh!" Came a sudden voice. "Who are you?"

Crono and Lucca turned, startled, to see some nuns entering from outside. Lucca relaxed, taking her hand from her gun, and she looked sidelong at Crono. The nuns stood there, waiting for an answer.

"Oh we're just...travelers from Porre," Crono said. "We just wanted to take some shelter here for the night."

The nuns looked questioningly at him, clearly surprised.

"How did you get here from Porre?" One asked. "Zenan bridge was destroyed by Magus's troops."

Crono winced. He wasn't quite sure how to answer that.

"We came by boat," Lucca said quickly. "We were desperate to get across to Guardia, we both have family who live here."

The nuns looked at them, considering their answers carefully. They whispered amongst each other for a bit, then turned back to them.

"Well, the cathedral is of course open to anyone," one said. "Please, wait out here while we prepare a room for you."

"Thank you," Lucca said.

As the nuns left the front room, Crono and Lucca sat down on one of the nearby pews. Crono breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at Lucca.

"That was close," he said.

"Hey, you can always depend on Lucca the Great," Lucca said, smiling.

"So what do you think?" Crono asked her. "Is Queen Leene here?

"Well it's sort of strange how they all just appeared like that," Lucca said. "I didn't see any sign of them outside, though I guess it's possible we could've missed them."

"I'll try to find something out by talking to them," Crono said. "You should snoop around, try to find anything suspicious."

"When?" Lucca asked. "They'll probably be watching us closely if this really is the place."

"The middle of the night," Crono said. "They have to sleep too."

As the nuns re-emerged from the side hallway, Crono cursed himself for not keeping track of how many there had been before. Now he had no way to know if some were lurking elsewhere, watching them from some covert location. The nuns dispersed throughout the main room of the cathedral, one walking up to Crono and Lucca, smiling warmly at them. One thing that caught Crono's eye was how smoothly she moved. It didn't seem human.

"Please, follow me," she said, in a very friendly tone.

"Too friendly," Crono whispered to Lucca as they followed the nun.

"Crono..." Lucca whispered back. "She's a nun."

Crono gave Lucca a dismissive look, making Lucca smile despite the danger they might currently be in.

The hallway of the cathedral was beautifully decorated. If not for the strange nuns, this really would be a legitimate cathedral. At least, from what they had seen so far. If this cathedral was as old as it seemed, there were bound to be secrets. Most old churches and castles have them. Eventually they arrived at a door, and the nun opened it with a key, the click sounding loudly in the empty halls. That gave Lucca pause for thought. Were the nuns they had seen the only ones here? Who were all these rooms for? It couldn't be just for guests, the cathedral was too far out of the way to get them frequently enough to warrant so many rooms.

The door creaked as the nun pushed it gently open, and she invited Crono and Lucca into their room. It was a bit small, but had all they needed for a night's stay. Crono looked around the room, then turned to the nun who was still watching them.

"Thank you," he said. "I think that's all we'll need for now."

The nun nodded, and silently backed out of the room, her eyes on them until the door closed gently. Crono noticed the door stayed open a crack for a few seconds, and could've sworn that he saw a glint of an eye peering through it. He shivered as it closed.

"Wow," Lucca said. "That was definitely on the creepy side."

"I'm pretty convinced this is the place myself," Crono said. "But we should still check around."

"Right," Lucca said.

And with little else to say, they both climbed into their beds and started their very short sleep. And whether they wanted it to be short or not, they would find they had little choice in the matter.

Crono woke up, not quite sure what had disturbed his sleep. He was turned in bed, facing the wooden wall. He wasn't quite sure at first what he was looking at, still being a bit groggy. As his head cleared, however, he slowly came to the realization. There was an eye looking at him from a hole in the wall.

Startled, he leaped out of bed. The eye moved away from the hole, disappearing. He heard a strange grunt from the hole in the wall, and the sound of something heavy moving behind the wall became apparent as the floorboards creaked. Whatever it was, it was moving out of the room next to them and to the hallway. Was it coming for them?

Crono rushed over to Lucca's bed and gently shook her, waking her up. She turned over in bed and peered up at him, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She sat up, her violet hair in slight disarray.

"What is it, Crono?" She asked him.

"Something was looking at me from behind the wall," Crono said, putting his gi on over his other clothes. He snatched up his pouch and sword sheath as well. "It's moving now. Hear it?"

Lucca paused, as she suddenly heard the floorboards creaking as if something heavy was moving on them. She became wide-awake when they both heard the door in the next room open and slam. Then there was silence. Lucca forced a smile, clearly scared.

"This is one of those times..." she said. "When I think we've gotten way in over our heads."

Crono grasped the hilt of his wooden sword as he faced the door. He wished he had something better than a wooden sword. Perhaps it would've been better if they had waited until his knighting to look for Leene.

They both waited for several minutes, expecting whatever it was to burst through the door, shattering it into pieces. Lucca was tapping her gun nervously, as a bead of sweat ran down the side of her head. She had checked to make sure she had ammo in it four times in the last few minutes.

Time passed on, and eventually they both relaxed. It was a bit embarrassing for them both. They had both fought monsters in their lifetime, Guardia Forest was still full of them in 1000 AD. And here something that might be nothing more than an innocent nun with nothing more than a paranoia problem was scaring them.

"We better start looking," Crono said.

Lucca nodded slowly, and holstered her gun. She walked over to the door and turned the knob, then waited a few seconds before opening it. She stepped out into the hall and looked to the left, and a short scream escaped her lips. Crono rushed out to her side to see what had startled her, and he almost yelled in surprise himself.

At the far end of the hallway, almost completely shrouded in darkness, a nun was standing making no sound at all, just staring at them. The look on her face was expressionless, and the three stood there staring at each other for a few minutes, Lucca still breathing hard. Slowly, the nun backed away just as she had done before when she exited the room, disappearing into the darkness.

"They're definitely not doing a good job with appearing normal," Lucca said.

"That's because they don't intend to let us go," Crono said, glaring into the darkness. His wooden sword was out and his hands gripped it tightly. Lucca smiled, filled with new confidence. Crono was ready to fight.

They stalked through the halls of the cathedral, keeping a close lookout for anything strange. They hadn't seen any more sign of whatever it was that Crono had seen looking at him through the wall. Both of them hoped they never would.

It was really hard to see right now. All the candles that lit the hall earlier were out, and there were no windows in the hall to let in what light there was from outside. And that wouldn't be a lot, considering they were in the middle of a forest. In fact, neither of them could figure out how they had any light at all right now. Regardless, they went on.

They finally arrived at the doorway that led into the side hall from the main room of the cathedral. Crono turned the knob, and they entered the well-lit room. They looked around, hoping to find some other door that could lead to where the queen was. However, they didn't find a thing. Queen Leene appeared to be absolutely nowhere in this creepy cathedral.

"Great," Crono said, sinking down into a pew. "Of all the wrong places we could've searched, we picked the creepy and suspicious one. If we had picked any other, we wouldn't have wasted so much time. I sure hope the queen is ok, wherever she is..."

"This can't be," Lucca said. "This has to be the place. You said the chancellor was here, right? But where is he? We haven't seen a single sign of him. There has got to be something we're missing here."

"Maybe he left before we came," Crono suggested.

"No, couldn't be," Lucca replied, looking around the room. "He would've had to pass us, we didn't leave that long after him."

Crono shrugged. "We could go back to that creepy hallway, I guess. We might've missed something there."

"Hold on..." Lucca said, walking over to one of the cathedral walls.

She placed her ear to it and began knocking on it. She moved around the perimeter of the room, knocking on the wall as she went. She eventually arrived at the northern wall, and worked her way over to the northeastern section where she had begun. She sighed, and folded her arms, looking down.

"Still nothing," she said, spirits low.

Just then she gasped, and narrowed her eyes as she looked to the floor. Was that a...? She kneeled to the floor, and got a closer look. It was! Sticking out from beneath the wall was a hairpin. This had to be where the secret room was, there was no other explanation for the hairpin sticking out from BENEATH the wall.

"Crono!" She said, calling him over. "I found something!"

Crono came over to Lucca. "What is it?" He asked her, looking at the hairpin in her hands.

"A hairpin," she said, turning it around in her hand. "And look!" She pointed to an insignia on the hairpin. "That's Guardia's royal crest! It was beneath this wall, so that means the wall isn't attached to the ground. It probably lifts!"

Just then they noticed a breeze in the room. They looked over to see the entrance to the cathedral was open slightly, letting in the cool night air of the forest.

"Was that open before?" Crono asked.

Lucca shook her head, taking out her gun again.

"Very good," said a hostile, venomous voice from behind the door. "You're very clever to find our secret."

One by one the nuns entered, a dark look on all their faces. They moved smoothly towards Crono and Lucca, who had their weapons ready. Once more Crono noticed how they seemed to simply glide across the ground as they moved, not moving their legs at all. All six nuns lined up beside each other, with Crono and Lucca backed up against the wall. Lucca pointed her gun at one of them.

"Stay back," Lucca said. "I don't want to shoot you."

The nuns laughed horrible monstrous laughs. They edged closer, and Lucca began to sweat as her finger hovered over the trigger. Crono wished now more than ever that he had more than a wooden sword, but it would have to do if the nuns attacked. The nuns moved closer and closer. Suddenly there was a bang, and one of the nuns stumbled back a few feet, the other nuns shrieking. The nun fell to the ground dead, and the other nuns looked at Lucca, who was shaking, her gun smoking.

"I...just killed a nun," Lucca said, eyes wide.

The remaining nuns gathered around the fallen nun, looking down darkly at her. They lifted their heads after a few moments of silence to look once again at Crono and Lucca. Crono and Lucca both backed up then, seeing something wholly disturbing. The nuns' faces were contorting, the mouths widening to an extent unreachable by normal human mouths. They widened and twisted upward in cruel, demonic smiles. Long, curved fangs were now visible inside the mouths of the nuns. Their eyes grew bigger, and almond shaped. Their pupils turned to reptilian slits.

Suddenly they all burst into blue flame, howling and yelling horribly. Lucca covered her ears, trying to drown out the monstrous noise. At first they seemed to be in pain, but soon the two of them realized the howls and yells had more of a pleasurable tone to them, as if they enjoyed what was currently happening to them. Their clothes and skin burned off of them, turning out to be nothing more than disguises. Their true forms became more and more clear now as the human flesh burned and dissolved into nothing.

The five nuns were now clearly mystics. They were naga-ettes, creatures with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a snake. Their skin was green and their hair bright pink. They licked their lips with their long tongues as they viewed Crono and Lucca, who they now obviously intended to have as their meal.

One of them coiled back and then quickly sprung forward at Lucca. Lucca shot at the naga-ette, and hit her shoulder causing her to shriek and halt her charge. At this, the other four charged, hoping to overwhelm the armed teenagers. Crono charged in turn, grabbing hold of one by her shoulders and tackling her to the ground. She screeched and swiped at him, scratching his cheek with her claws. He punched her in the face a few times, then grabbed her arm as she swung it again.

Meanwhile, Lucca was dealing with three other naga-ettes. One charged, swinging at Lucca with her clawed hand, and Lucca quickly dodged to the side and hit the monster on the back of the head with the butt of her gun. But she was then tackled from behind by another naga-ette, and screamed as they both fell to the ground, the creature on top of her back.

Crono and the naga-ette he was fighting had gotten off the ground and were now facing each other.

"These things are tough," Crono thought. "I'll only be able to do so much damage with this wooden sword...unless I...ah, that's it. I'll try that."

Crono grinned at the naga-ette, and gestured for her to come at him. She screamed and charged, reaching both claws out at him, obviously going for his neck. Crono quickly dodged to the side of her, unsheathed his sword, and bashed her on the back of the head with it's hilt, causing her to fall to the ground. Crono then leaped into the air with his sword pointing downward towards her back, and as he approached the ground he added more force to the sword by shoving it downward. As he landed, the wooden sword was driven right into the naga-ette's back, and she screamed and writhed on the ground, trying to grasp the sword in her back.

Lucca elbowed the naga-ette she was wrestling with in the face, and rolled away from it when it let go of her. She got to her feet and shot another naga-ette that was coming at her. With two naga-ettes left, Crono and Lucca joined together again, each facing a naga-ette. They were at a standoff. Crono was holding his sword, ready to strike as soon as the naga-ette charged. Lucca was doing the same with her gun, aiming it right at the other naga-ette's head.

Quick as lightning, however, the naga-ettes grabbed each other's arms and swung each other to the side, landed on the wall, then sprung away from it for Crono and Lucca. They both leaped out of the way and onto the ground, and the naga-ettes slammed into each other and fell in a heap. Lucca pulled out her small flame-thrower and shot a jet of flame at the entangled naga-ettes. They got up, screaming as they burned, and Lucca took aim with her gun and shot both of them dead.

Lucca sighed, wiping sweat off her brow. "We did it," she said, smiling.

Crono sheathed his sword. "It's not over yet," he said. "We still have to find Leene."

Lucca let loose a heavier sigh and hunched over, feeling tired at the thought of more fighting. Her eyes surveyed the floor of the cathedral, now littered with the bodies of the five slain naga-ettes. She narrowed her eyes.

"Weren't there six?" She asked Crono.

Suddenly there was a horrible shriek, and green arms wrapped tightly around Lucca from behind, pulling her back to the ground. Crono rushed to help her, but the naga-ette's snake-half whipped out and tripped him. Lucca shivered as the naga-ette's tongue licked the back of her neck, tasting her flesh.

"Killed my sisters, eh?" The naga-ette said in Lucca's ear. "Shot me in the shoulder. But I got you in the end, yesss."

Lucca closed her eyes as she felt the hot breath of the monster on the back of her neck as the naga-ette opened its mouth to bite down. But the bite never came. There was a gentle thud as if something landed right next to them, then the sound of iron slicing through flesh and bone, and a short scream from the naga-ette. Lucca then felt the creature's grasp loosen, and she rolled away as fast as she could, opening her eyes as she got up.

"Thanks Cr-"she said, but stopped short when she saw her rescuer.

Standing there, by the body of the naga-ette, was a four-foot tall humanoid frog, clad in gold colored armored top, white pants, and a green cape. He carried a golden shield in his other hand, and he was looking at Lucca. Crono stood nearby, staring in wonder at the frog.

The frog took his sword out of the naga-ette's face, cleaned it off, and sheathed it.

"Lower thine guard and thou art allowing the enemy in," the frog said.

Lucca blinked, still staring. "You're...a talking frog."

"Aye," the frog replied. "My guise doth not incur thy trust?"

"Well..." Lucca hesitated. "...you're a talking frog!"

"If thou doth not trust me, I must be going," the frog said. "The queen awaits rescue inside."

"Hold on, Lucca," Crono said. "What's your name?" He asked the frog.

The frog looked at Crono, considering. "...Frog will do," he finally said.

"How did you find this place, Frog?" Crono asked. "We found out about it just by luck."

"Mystics," Frog replied. "Many died before any were willing to surrender the information to me."

"I see," Crono said, a smile coming onto his face.

"So," Frog said. "Doth thou desire to accompany me? Our enemy and the queen lies deep within this cathedral."

Crono glanced at Lucca and nodded, a confident smile on his face. Lucca sighed, smiled, then held her hand out to Frog. He nodded, and shook her hand. To her surprise he then drew it towards him a bit and kissed it.

"A pleasure to make thy acquaintance, lass," Frog said. "What is thy name?"

"Lucca," she said. "And this is..." she said, turning to Crono.

"Ah yes," Frog said, turning to Crono again. "Thou hath fine sword skills. It is truly a shame that thou doth not possess a sword more worthy of them." Frog held his hand out to Crono. Crono took it, and told Frog his name.

"Now that we're all acquainted," Crono started. "Let's find the queen."

"Oh, right," Lucca said. "Before we were attacked, we found that hairpin under the wall, remember?"

Frog tilted his head to the side. "Under the wall, you say?" He said, emphasizing "under".

"Yeah, come see," Lucca said, leading the way to the northern wall.

Upon coming to the wall, Lucca kneeled down and ran her hand under the wall, showing that there was a space between the wall and the floor, though small.

"Surely this must be a secret entrance," Frog said, running his own hand between the wall and floor. "Yet the way to open it escapes me."

"A lot of secret walls can just be pushed in, can't they?" Crono asked.

"True, there are some that can," Lucca said. "But not this one."

"Why not?" Crono asked.

Lucca nodded towards the wall. "There's not even a hint of a crack around this portion of the wall. For walls that can be pushed in, there should be a sign of a slit or crack on one or both of its sides. That would mean there was a hinge for it to swing on, or some sort of track for it to slide back on. But there's nothing like that here."

"Indeed, Lucca speaks truly," Frog said. "And a secret entrance that can be accessed by such direct means doth not fit the style of the mystics. They always have some type of switch elsewhere, surely that must be the case in this place as well."

Frog peered around the room, scanning for anything that stood out as a likely switch. His large frog eyes settled on a piano.

"There," he said. "Surely that piano must be the mechanism we seek."

They walked over to it, and Frog sat down on the bench. He concentrated, then played a haunting and yet strangely inspiring tune on it. As he played, they could also hear a faint cracking and groaning, then the wall they had been looking at slowly slid upwards, revealing a door behind it. Frog continued playing until the door was completely exposed, then he stopped and got off the bench.

"What song was that?" Crono asked.

"One that pains my heart to have to play," Frog said quietly. "Thou hath just heard the tune to the song the mystics made to worship their king, Magus. However, that it was this song encourages me. Such an obvious choice of song to open the path forward means that we are not dealing with an overly bright group of mystics. They should be fairly easy to trick. Listen to me, and we shall then go forward."

The three of them, having walked through the door, went down the dim hallway on the other side. A few candles lighted this part of the cathedral, a stark contrast from the darker, uninhabited part that they had come from. They ventured through the hallway casually, according to their plan. As they heard crude, guttural voices up ahead, they hoped their plan would work.

"Yeah, that boy sure cried a lot, didn't he?" Said one monstrous voice. "I was sure he'd wet his pants, but blast it! He just ran away, the slime."

"Ehh, you can't count on humans for anything," another weasel sounding voice said in reply.

"You can count on them to taste good," said a third, low voice.

As they laughed, they came into view. Walking towards Crono, Lucca and Frog were three strange creatures. Two of them were large, armor clad green monsters. Their muscles bulged beneath their armor, which was really second rate. Crono recognized their eyes as the same kind that had peered at him through the hole in the wall earlier, and realized that these were henches. The other was a diablos, a gargoyle like creature with a beak-like snout and bat-like wings.

They spotted the three intruders, and their bodies stiffened. They probably would have attacked immediately if it had just been Crono and Lucca. But the odd looking Frog caused them to have doubts as to the identities of these strangers.

"Er, hey there!" Lucca said, waving to them. "We just got back from Truce, you won't believe what we did! Made that fool Toma scream and hide!"

The diablos looked at Lucca suspiciously, sizing her up. One of the henches grunted.

"Who cares?" Said the grunting hench. "Toma's easy to scare, it's confronting him when he's not surprised that's the trick."

"Why you two still have your disguises on?" The diablos asked Crono and Lucca. He was still eyeing them suspiciously.

"We just felt like dressing up tonight," Crono said loudly. "We're in a fine mood after our victory over Toma!"

"Rookies," one of the henches muttered as they walked past the intruders.

Frog smirked once the three mystics had gone completely.

"Well done," he said. "Thou shouldst be in theatre."

They came to the end of the hall and entered a large room. There were stairs on both sides, leading up to various rooms on the second floor. In the middle of the room was a statue of someone Crono did not recognize. It was a tall man, with long hair that went down to just below his shoulders. His face was grim, and he had long pointed ears. He was wearing a long cape, and mail on his upper body. He had gloves on, and was carrying a scythe in one hand.

"Who's that?" Crono asked Frog, pointing to the statue.

"Magus..." Frog said, glaring at the statue.

Power certainly seemed evident in him, Crono thought as he gazed at the statue. He looked like a good fighter, in addition to being a wizard. He was certainly a leader, and yet it was strange. Magus, the King of the Mystics, seemed to be mostly human. Crono wondered how he had gotten to such a position.

"We must continue," Frog said.

"Where to?" Lucca asked. "There are a lot of doors in this room."

"A prisoner like her majesty is likely to be in the very back of the cathedral," Frog said. "We shall go through the rear door."

They continued on through the cathedral, the sounds of crude laughter coming from a room nearby. From the sounds accompanying the laughter, they guessed that it was the dining hall. They did not dare to imagine what kind of food the mystics were eating. It was a fact that the demonic mystics enjoyed human flesh quite often.

Past the statue of Magus were some stairs leading up to the door in the back of the room. They walked upwards, their heartbeats quickening as they approached the door. They were getting deep into the secret parts of the cathedral now, and it wouldn't be easy to escape if they were found out now. Luckily, most of the mystics seemed to be eating at this moment.

They came to the next room and went up another staircase. There were fewer candles in this part of the cathedral, making it a little bit harder to see. Lucca looked up at the ceiling as they walked through another hallway, and almost let loose a startled scream. Seeing her upset, Crono and Frog looked up at the ceiling too.

Glowing eyes were peering at the three of them from the ceiling. A few faint squeaks sounded from among the eyes, and Crono and the others realized that the ceiling was covered with bats. Very large bats, too. Frog looked closely at them, trying to figure out just what kind of bats they were. He feared he knew what they were, and he was right.

"Vamps," Frog whispered. "Large bats that feed on blood. I wonder why they're not attacking."

"Fed recently?" Lucca whispered back. "Bats usually feed earlier in the night. Right now it can't be earlier than two or three in the morning."

"Yes," Frog said. "Surely thou art correct. Stay cautious, however. We do not want to stir them."

They walked through the hallway, Lucca having her flame-thrower ready. They eventually came to a staircase leading down. As they went down it, the lights suddenly went out. They paused, their breathing seeming loud in the quiet of the dark. Suddenly Lucca felt something very large brush past her and she screamed, firing her flame-thrower all around her in the darkness, illuminating the room some.

The bats' eyes widened, and squeaks filled the room as they detached from the ceiling and attacked Crono, Lucca and Frog. Lucca shot her flame-thrower around them, and more squeaks filled the room as various vamps caught on fire and fell to the ground dead. Something else was audible in the room amid the sounds of squeaking and Lucca's flame-thrower spurting jets of flame. Lucca couldn't quite make it out though with all the other sounds going on.

As the last of the bats fled the room, only a few sounds were left. Lucca clearly heard something large hissing and spitting ferociously, and the sounds of Crono and Frog battling it. Lucca pointed her flame-thrower in the general direction of the struggle, and fired. She was treated to a momentary view of a huge snake slithering in and out between Crono and Frog, trying its best to strike at them while dodging their attacks.

Having a moment to rest, Lucca was finally able to think clearly. She put away her flame-thrower and took out a light, attaching it to her helmet. She flicked it on and it shined at the snake and her friends, giving a clear view at last. The snake already was covered in slashes and bruises, yet it didn't seem to be slowing down at all. Having a clear view, Lucca took out her gun.

She aimed carefully, trying her best to follow the snake's movements as it struck and dodged. Frog slashed upwards, causing the snake to rear up in the air, making its full height clear. Lucca took this chance and shot, her bullet landing right in the snake's head. It hissed painfully, and fell to the ground. Crono and Frog jumped out of its range as it writhed on the ground. Finally it died, and they all caught a breath after the sudden and quick battle.

"Well," said Frog. "Let us hope the stirring of the bats did not alarm any other mystics to our presence."

They moved onwards, going through a door and coming to dimly lit rooms again. Lucca shut off her light but didn't put it away, in case any more surprise attacks came. They moved through the various rooms and halls of the cathedral, getting further and further into it. They had only been in here for a few hours, but it seemed like an eternity had passed. This had to be the longest night ever in Crono and Lucca's lives so far.

Eventually they came to a walkway that led over a rather featureless floor below. Frog surveyed the walkway carefully, obviously suspicious that it contained a trap. He reached into his a small green pouch attached to his belt and took out a coin. He tossed it onto the walkway, with no result. Considering this for a moment, Frog motioned for Crono and Lucca to stay where they were and set out across the walkway.

It went smoothly for a short time, but then suddenly with the sound of a sword unsheathing, a spike shot out of the ground beneath Frog, and he barely jumped back in time, only to have another spike go right through his cape as he landed. He ripped his cape free, and stood up, looking back at Crono and Lucca.

"Though this walkway is trapped indeed, I see no other way across," he said. "Thou must risk it."

Crono and Frog walked very carefully and very slowly across the walkway. Lucca decided to balance on the railing, carefully putting one foot right in front of the other as she walked. Despite being a very scientific and mechanical person, Lucca was an exceptional athlete. Very luckily, they got across the walkway without being gored, and even without Lucca falling.

They stepped through the door on the other side of the walkway, and immediately paused. There, on the far end of the room, was the Chancellor. In front of him, facing away from the three was Queen Leene herself. They had finally found her, and she was still alive.

Queen Leene was looking defiantly at the chancellor. Though such defiance would typically enrage a kidnapper, he seemed to be very calm.

"Idle threats will not save you, Leene," the chancellor said.

"My threats are not idle, beast," Queen Leene said. "If you try to kill me, you will have a fight on your hands."

The chancellor laughed loudly, amused greatly by her response. He got up from his chair and picked up his staff. He detached the top of it, revealing a blade. The staff apparently was actually a spear. The chancellor kicked his chair aside, leaped up on top of the desk, and then swung his arm to throw the spear at the queen, who braced herself.

With a loud bang, the chancellor recoiled his hand in pain, dropping the spear and stumbling backwards off of the desk, falling onto the ground. The queen whirled around to see Lucca lowering her smoking gun.

"Well done, Lucca," Frog said, striding quickly past Lucca to the queen.

"Glenn!" The queen said happily, taking Frog's hands into hers as she kneeled down to greet him.

"Forgive me, my queen," Frog said, bowing to her.

The queen looked quizzically at Frog. "But Glenn, there's nothing to-"

"Accursed frog!" Came the chancellor's voice, cutting Queen Leene off. "It's time you jumped off this mortal coil!"

The chancellor climbed up onto the desk and leaped at Frog, who clenched his fist and swung it into the chancellor's face as he flew through the air, sending him crashing back into the desk. The chancellor winced, and painfully got back to his feet. Frog was breathing heavily. The chancellor looked at him, then his eyes darted to Crono and Lucca, still standing a few feet back.

"I see..." he said quietly. "It looks as if I'll need to resort to that..."

Hearing the chancellor's words, Frog unsheathed his sword, and nodded to Crono and Lucca. Lucca reloaded her gun and Crono unsheathed his wooden sword. The chancellor leaped up onto the desk yet again, and raised his arms.

"Hurry!" Frog said. "We must stop him before he completes his transformation!"

Frog and Crono rushed at the chancellor, who was beginning to be engulfed by electricity, a look on his face as if it was bringing him great satisfaction and pleasure. The queen hurriedly backed away towards the back of the room, fear on her face. Frog and Crono leaped at the chancellor, but unfortunately they were hurled backwards by the electricity coursing all through and around the chancellor. Crono looked at Lucca and nodded. She aimed her gun and shot, but one arc of electricity shot out like lightning and struck the bullet, causing it to explode before it hit the chancellor, hurling Frog and Crono back further.

Their efforts to halt the transformation proven to be in vain, they could only watch as the electricity completely engulfed the chancellor. His shape within the electrical barrier started to change and expand. Lucca stepped in front of the queen, prepared to guard her against whatever the chancellor would emerge as. Soon the electricity died down, and they saw what the chancellor really was.

Its large girth spread over the desk and onto the floor, was the namesake of the part of Guardia Forest the cathedral lay in. It was Yakra, the large blubbery and horned mystic. Its only appendages were barely recognizable as such, being four extremely short legs. They were only made apparent by the presence of the huge claws they had, which were digging into the floor of the room, having broken through the floorboards.

Yakra growled, focusing on Crono and Frog. His claws started to click repeatedly and fast on the ground, and then he charged towards them like a train. Crono and Frog leaped to the side, barely avoiding the large monster. Lucca shot it in the side as it turned, but it barely noticed the bullet. It seemed that its blubber had very little nerve endings. It also likely served to slow the bullet down considerably, keeping it from penetrating deep enough to strike anything vital.

"Guys!" Lucca yelled. "Make your strikes strong and deep! Crono, I'm not sure how much your wooden sword is going to be able to do!"

Crono cursed silently, knowing that it wouldn't be able to do much against a creature like this. Still, he'd have to try his best. He couldn't just stay to the side while his friends fought Yakra. He ran at Yakra, raising his sword to attack. Yakra reared up and hit Crono with his claws, causing him to stumble back and fall to the ground.

Frog immediately followed, coming at Yakra from the other side and stabbing his sword into him. He hadn't done it with enough force, however, and it only served to alert Yakra to the attack. Yakra turned and roared. Frog took the sword out of Yakra and jumped back as the beast attempted to butt him with his horned head.

"He hits hard, but he isn't very fast," Crono thought. "The key is to strike him hard when he isn't looking right at you."

Crono ran to where Yakra's back was facing while Yakra was still concentrated on Frog. He then turned and ran at Yakra's back, jumped in the air, and drove his sword downwards as he landed on the back of Yakra. Unfortunately, the wooden sword didn't penetrate the thick layer of blubber at all. Yakra turned and shook Crono off, then his cheeks bulged as something came up into his mouth. An iron ball shot from the mouth like a cannonball, and Crono instinctively ducked. The iron ball went right over him, but broke his sword that he had been holding up as he dropped. Lucca tackled the queen to the ground as the iron ball rushed over them, going right through the wall.

Frustrated, Crono threw the pieces of his sword to the ground and watched as Frog faced off with Yakra, ducking under and leaping over the various lunges of the monster. Seeing that Crono was basically out of action, Lucca rushed forward.

"Guard her!" She said as she went past Crono, taking out her flame-thrower.

As she rushed to Yakra's back, she saw something odd happening to it. Various openings in it became visible, and soon needles emerged. The area around the needles swelled, obviously building up pressure. Lucca skidded to a halt and rolled to the side as many needles came flying at her. She then fired a jet of flame at Yakra, setting his back on fire.

Yakra let loose a pained roar, and turned to face Lucca, fury in his eyes. He charged, and she shot him in the face as she ran to the side to avoid him. It didn't seem to affect him much though, as he crashed into the wall and immediately charged again, following Lucca closely. Lucca looked back just as an iron ball was shot at her from the pursuing beast. She screamed as she ducked down, but stumbled as she did and fell to the ground. Yakra ducked his head and butted her, sending her slamming against the wall.

Yakra still was furious and in pain as the flames continued to burn on his back. In his rage he briefly spotted Frog charging as he turned, and shot flaming needles at him. Frog dodged just in time and quickly put out a small fire that had set on his cape from a needle that had passed through it. Yakra growled and charged at Frog. Frog prepared to jump to the side, but halted as he heard Crono.

"Frog!" Crono yelled. "Use this!"

Crono threw the chancellor's spear to Frog, who caught it. As Yakra got to Frog, and lowered his head to try to gore Frog with his horns, Frog lowered the spear. The speed at which Yakra was charging drove the spear right into the top of his lowered head, between his horns. Frog leaped over Yakra as he squealed and stumbled to the ground. Then all was still. Finally, Yakra was dead.

Crono and the queen walked over to Frog and Lucca. Lucca was holding her sides in pain, having taken quite a beating from Yakra.

"Thank you, all of you," Queen Leene said to them. Crono and Lucca smiled in acknowledgement, and Frog bowed.

"'Twas our pleasure, majesty," Frog said.

"We should really get you back now," Lucca said. "The whole castle is probably really worried."

Leene nodded, and they began to make their way out of the room. As they did, they suddenly heard a muffled thumping coming from a closet on the side of the room. Frog unsheathed his sword and cautiously made his way over to the closet. He turned the knob, and out stumbled the real chancellor, still tied up and gagged. Seeing the queen, his eyes widened and he hopped frantically over to her, tripping when he got to her.

Crono and Lucca untied him and helped him to his feet.

"So that's where you were!" Leene said.

The chancellor fell to his knees and bowed to Leene.

"Forgive me, majesty!" He said. "I was not strong enough to escape capture by the demons! If it wasn't for me..."

Leene smiled warmly, and helped the chancellor to his feet.

"It is not your fault," she said. "You are not a warrior. You are an advisor, and a close family friend. I am just glad that you are alive and well."

The chancellor smiled appreciatively, and nodded. Crono looked at Frog, to see him looking downward, a sad look on his face. He was about to say something to Frog when he looked up and spoke.

"Well, let us be off," he said. "The king will be happy to have you back."

With that, they all set off to exit the cathedral and return to the castle.


	4. We're Back!

CHAPTER 4

WE'RE BACK

Back at the castle, the three heroes kneeled in front of Guardia and Leene. There had been a great deal of suspicion at first upon their return. Leene had been questioned intensely before they were satisfied that she was really Leene. Then they had to sort out the sticky situation of Crono, Lucca and Marle deceiving the whole castle. It was mostly forgiven however, due to them rescuing Leene, and Leene's pardoning them herself. Frog, who seemed to be a good friend of the king and queen, also had put in a good word for Crono and Lucca.

The chancellor didn't seem to have the ability to stop praising and thanking them for the rescue, and insisted on knighting Crono and Frog. Lucca was of course resentful that she was not proposed for knighthood. Apparently the people of 600 AD still had some prejudices to take care of.

The king took up his sword, and walked over to Crono, who was still kneeling.

"Crono," Guardia said. "You have proven your valor in the midst of combat, your cunning in finding the queen, and your bravery in going into an abode of mystics with only two other companions. For this, the kingdom of Guardia recognizes you officially as a knight, and I dub thee Sir Crono."

Guardia gently touched Crono's shoulder with his sword, and Crono then stood up, facing the king. Guardia stepped back.

"As a symbol of your knighthood, please accept this sword," Guardia said. "May you use it to protect yourself, those you love, and the weak in defense from the evil and the strong."

A fully armored knight stepped forward, kneeled to Crono, and held out an iron blade and a black leather sheathe tipped with gold. Guardia's royal crest was located near the top of the sheathe. Thrilled to finally get a real sword, Crono took it gratefully and stepped back slightly. Guardia moved on to Lucca.

"Lady Ashtear," Guardia said. "Though our laws state that only men can receive the title of knight, I bestow upon you the title of national hero for your services in rescuing our queen. I reward you with this medal bearing the crest of Guardia. May you wear it with pride so that all shall know your status and give you the respect you deserve."

Lucca remained bowing as Guardia put the medal around her neck. She then stood up smiling, and stepped back as well. Guardia moved on to Frog. He stepped up to Frog, but the unexpected happened as Frog stood up and stepped back. A look of shame was upon his face.

"My king..." he began. "I...cannot accept any reward."

"Glenn!" Leene said, getting up from her throne.

Frog held his hand up for silence, so that he could speak.

"'Twas my fault that the queen was kidnapped," he said. "Had I not been engulfed in my hatred for Magus, shirking my responsibilities to Guardia, she wouldst never have been kidnapped."

"It is my opinion, Glenn," Guardia said. "That your rescuing her has redeemed any fault you may have had prior to this. Though it is also my opinion that you had none. All of us here are as responsible as you were for her disappearance. In fact, more so, as we were right here in the castle that she was taken from!"

"Yet this is not the only reason I can not accept knighthood," Frog said. "Until I have avenged Cyrus, and rid the world of Magus, I shall remain but a loyal protector of Guardia." Frog turned away from all gathered there, towards the door. "Crono...thou hast great skill in swordplay. Farewell." Frog walked out of the throne room, Leene staring in despair after him. The sound of the main doors closing as Frog left echoed throughout the castle.

Guardia and Leene sat in their thrones, everyone in the room in a less than cheerful mood now. The look on Leene's face said that she believed Frog's hurt was her fault. Guardia's thoughts were strained with the pressure of the war and their best fighter just leaving. Crono and Lucca stared at the doors to the throne room, hoping that Frog might come back through them.

Guardia looked up at Crono and Lucca, breaking himself out of his thoughts. "Forgive me," he said. "Please, feel free to stay here as long as you wish. You are invited to-"

"Oh!" Leene said suddenly. "I just remembered, what happened to your friend that was mistaken for me?"

Crono's eyes widened. They had forgotten all about Marle!

"She should be in your room, majesty," Crono said.

"My room?" Leene asked, perplexed. "But I thought she was missing from the castle, that's why everyone got so worried."

"Er, it's hard to explain," Lucca said, grinning. "But we'll be right back, please excuse us!"

Guardia and Leene stared after them, confused, as they rushed past the thrones and to the stairwell that led up to Leene's room. As they ran up the stairwell, wind rushed past them.

"Time is starting to correct itself!" Lucca said. "She should reappear in the room any moment, let's hurry!"

They finally arrived at the top of the tower and ran through the outer doors of the queen's chamber. They rushed through the short hallway, passed some chatting maids, and burst into the queen's room. Lucca hurriedly closed the doors as the wind whirled around one point in the room, a blue light filling the room and slowly increasing in intensity. Then, with a blinding flash, Marle reappeared. She looked extremely bewildered. She then saw Crono.

"Crono!" She yelled, and rushed to him, putting her arms around him.

They stood there for a moment, Marle hugging him and Crono patting her back, comforting her. Lucca smiled, glad to see that the princess was fine.

"It's good to see you're ok, Princess Nadia," Lucca said.

Marle separated herself from Crono, and looked at Lucca.

"You came to save me too?" She asked, then comprehension dawned on her face, along with fear. "Princess...Nadia...? Uh oh. You figured it out, huh?"

"Yes," Lucca said. "As soon as I heard you disappeared, my suspicions were confirmed. It had to be the only explanation."

"I'm sorry you guys..." Marle said sadly. "I've caused you so much trouble. It's just...I was so tired of always being cooped up in the castle. I was gonna go back at the end of the day, but then...all this happened."

"Why didn't you just say who you really were?" Crono asked her.

"Oh come on," Marle said. "Can you honestly say that you would've been comfortable showing me around if you had known who I really was?"

"Well, I might have been a little nervous, and..." Crono grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "I see your point."

"See?" Marle said. "Besides, I like Marle more than Princess Nadia anyway. It's nice to have a nickname...like a normal person. It was nice to have you guys not act so formal around me, and treat me like a regular person."

"Wow..." Lucca said. "I never would've guessed being a princess would be so unenjoyable. I mean, you have all these people waiting on you, all those nice things. If I was princess I could afford so much more things to invent with!"

Marle laughed cynically. "Don't be so sure. Sure you could afford the stuff, but that doesn't mean they'd let you invent. 'Inventing things and playing with gadgets is not the proper way a princess should act!' they'd say. You'd always be cooped up in the castle, and always have to follow the schedule other people set for you. There's hardly any time to do what you actually want to do. Combine that with an overprotective father, and..." Marle sighed.

"Princess Nadia..." Lucca said, feeling bad.

Marle shook her head. "Anyway, let's not think about that now. How did you guys get me back?"

"Well, like I said," Lucca began. "My suspicions of who you were had been confirmed when you disappeared. But we still had to figure out where Leene was, and if she was still alive. So..." Lucca and Crono told Marle all that had happened. Marle stood listening, amazed at all they told her.

"Wow," she said when they had finished. "You did all that for me? I've never had friends like you guys. In fact, I've never had friends at all." She smiled happily at them.

"Well, we better get back down to the throne room," Lucca said. "The king and queen are waiting."

"Oh hold on," Marle said. "Before we go, I wanna change into my regular clothes. Crono...?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Crono said, backing out of the room. "Yeah sorry, I'll just...yeah!" He closed the door after he left, and waited. He could hear Marle giggling as he closed the door.

_Note: Hey guys, just wanted to upload this portion of the chapter to let you know I'm still alive. I'm very busy with preparing to move, so don't have loads of time for this story anymore. But I will update it, don't worry._


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